


Purpose

by unknown_knowns



Series: Catharsis [5]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Chloe is broken, Emotional Rollercoaster, F/F, Fluff and Angst, KIND of canon, Mental Health Issues, S1 replacement fic, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, a little feelsy at times, and very gay, but Max is there, but the POV revolves, can be read without reading 17 but I don't recommend it, kept most of the BtS canon but adjusted some stuff, most of S1 E1-3 is there but not E4-5 since it's hot garbage, mostly Chloe POV, particularly E3 since again wth, rachel is mentioned A LOT, recontextualizes S1 with what we know from BtS, some BtS ones too, various S1 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-02-19 14:05:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 98,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13125258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknown_knowns/pseuds/unknown_knowns
Summary: Rachel is gone and Chloe isn't coping. But Max is here for her, and she's kind of cute.Even when life dumps magic time powers, nightmares of haunting storms, and psychotic murderers on her.Chloe struggles with newfound feelings for her best friend while still having a girlfriend and trying to balance everything else in her life.And find purpose, once again.(Slowburn S1 retelling from mostly Chloe POV. Lots of BtS references to fit in better with S1 canon.)





	1. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max comes home.

“Welcome home, Max.”

A little cheeky, somewhat uncertain, mostly playful, but.

There was a little truth to it, too.

Chloe opened the door to her room and waltzed inside, collapsing onto her bed face-first and only afterwards bothering to flip herself around and get up to sit on the edge of her bed.

She swayed her boots from side to side, occasionally clicking the heels of her boots together, as Max sort of awkwardly walked into Chloe’s room and closed the door behind her.

For a few months now, Chloe was basically numb to the world.

She tried not to feel, she tried to just get through the day, to just do her goal of finding Rachel.

It was just easier that way.

It was exhausting, soul-destroying to spend every day thinking about Rachel, and about what could have been, and how unfair everything was.

So she tried to just.

Not.

Anymore.

She just didn’t care.

But she felt weird ever since the encounter with Nathan, in the bathroom.

There was a warmth in her body that she was still trying to understand – a warmth she only remembered feeling around Rachel.

She didn’t know where it came from, or why it picked now of all times, but …

It was making today easier.

Even after her crazy-ass morning, it let her smile a little bit in the conversation with Max on the truck ride over here.

And it let her smile, now, as Max started snooping around Chloe’s room, because Max was always such a fucking snoop and she had barely changed in all of the time they were apart, it seemed.

“Your room is … so different, Chloe.”

Max ran her fingers along some walls that Chloe had punched in moments of inexorable desperation and some graffiti that had long since proven to be impossible to wash from these walls.

And David had certainly fucking tried.

Chloe exhaled, amused, and put both of her hands on the edge of her bed, looking down, slightly.

“Five years is a long time, Max. Shit changes, you know.”

Max sighed wearily.

Chloe … didn’t fully know how she wanted to feel about Max coming back into her life so suddenly.

With Rachel’s guidance, Chloe had more-or-less worked through the pain of Max disconnecting herself from Chloe’s life when she needed her the most.

She didn’t fucking forgive her for it, but, she didn’t lose any sleep over it anymore, either.

A sort of polite acceptance of something she couldn’t change, anyway, so why care.

“Chloe …”

And there was just this deathly regret in Max’s voice as Chloe brought up their time apart for the second time in probably an hour or so of just reconnecting.

Did Max not intend to ignore Chloe for years?

Or did she just not know what to say?

Either way, Max broke her hand away from the wall to rub at her arm, and carefully walked over to Chloe’s computer, to sit down at her computer chair, and turn to face Chloe.

Chloe watched her patiently.

Max looked up from the floor, pursed her lips, put her hands together, then broke them apart, looked away, then back again, and finally just sighed and shook her head slightly.

“I’m … really sorry.”

Chloe closed her eyes and exhaled harshly.

“I … know you are, Max.”

Did she? This came out without any thought, and Chloe wasn’t sure about it as it left her tongue, but it was still voluble and certain sounding.

“Just … gotta rub your nose in it sometimes, yeah?”

Chloe deployed this trick – one of many she learned from Rachel – when shit got too heavy in conversations, and things got awkward because no one really knew what to say, by cracking a playful joke.

And Max’s lips upturned very slightly into the world’s least impressive but still endearing smile.

Even after all of this time, even after all of the shit Chloe went through, even after almost getting fucking killed this morning, Chloe loved seeing that response from Max.

Like old times, again.

“Okay. I guess I kinda … deserve that.”

Chloe exhaled, amused again.

Max always knew how to play along with Chloe when she wanted to, and it was nice that hadn’t changed either, despite how much Chloe had.

“Oh, you bet. You owe me like … hella burgers for this, Max. For like, the rest of your life.”

Max’s smile got a bit wider, and so did Chloe’s.

“As many burgers as I can afford.”

It was just such a nice thought.

Chloe patted at her own thighs and suddenly stood up with a bit too much energy, having to spend just the tiniest fraction of a second readjusting her balance before prowling over to the opposite side of her room.

“Still listening to that hippy shit, Max? Ever hear a _real_ song?”

Chloe walked over to her hi-fi and started fussing with discs.

Max watched her for a bit, but her attention shifted to all of the crap on Chloe’s desk not too long afterwards, and she was compelled to run her fingers along some of the old photos sitting on it.

“Um … well, it’s real music to me. I love Sufjan Stevens. I wish I could see him in concert, sometime.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and playfully stuck out her tongue in mock disgust, even if Max couldn’t see it because she was doing that snooping thing she did.

But it didn’t feel violating.

If Max wanted to see Chloe’s stuff, she could.

It reminded Chloe of the way she was when she first saw Rachel’s room, and all she could do was just dumbly walk around and put her fingers on the essentials of Rachel’s life.

Her star charts.

Her posters.

Her silly-but-endearing little rotating star light.

Fuck.

Chloe picked out a disc and stuck it into her hi-fi, tossing the jewel case away to some random corner of her room for now.

She clapped her hands together.

“Boom. Real music time.”

She turned on her heels to look at Max, who looked up to Chloe when the music started to play.

Chloe shimmied over to the bed and sat down on it harshly, like her body was a lump of coal being delivered to the stocking belonging to the world’s naughtiest child.

Chloe didn’t know why, exactly, she wanted Max to like her music.

_I got sunburn waiting for the jets to land._

 

Max blinked and smiled slightly, looking a little surprised at the way the song sounded, before picking up one of the photos she had been looking at earlier and sitting down carefully on the bed next to Chloe, but with some diligent friendly distance between them.

“It’s … nice, Chloe. I … didn’t think you listened to music like this.”

Chloe briefly eyed the photo Max had but was distracted by her words, and just snickered.

She placed her hands on the edge of the bed and leaned forward, slightly, once again kicking her boots around.

“It was Rachel’s favorite band. One of them, anyway. She had like … a _million_ favorites, and it was … hard to keep up, sometimes.”

Ugh, fuck.

Chloe frowned a little with the reminder of Rachel, and not because the memory was distasteful, just ….

Fuck.

Max frowned some, too, and carefully handed the photo over to Chloe.

“This is Rachel, right? The girl with missing posters all over town? … What happened, Chloe? Who um … was she?”

Chloe peered at the photo and carefully took it from Max.

God.

This one was one of the harder ones to look at it.

It felt like a whole lifetime ago now, the day before Rachel left, they took a selfie of the two of them kissing on the grass, staring at the night sky.

Rachel took it in a kind of spur-of-the-moment thing, and honestly, it wasn’t a very good picture, but Chloe still spent what little money she had to get a print of it.

Chloe ran her fingers along the photo, feeling the wear lines from all of the times she had folded it and took it with her, and looked at the little stains and damages here and there that naturally comes from age and distress.

And she sighed wearily, deeply, slumping forward even more.

“Yeah.”

Her voice came out shuttering and fragile, and she had to clear her throat since she didn’t want Max to see that side of her, anyway.

“That’s her. Rachel Amber. My girlfriend, my life, my everything.”

Her voice had more certainty to it, but it was still a really hard topic for Chloe, and she just couldn’t keep looking at this photo for too long if she didn’t want to start crying, so she looked up to her ceiling with her eyes closed.

Max watched her patiently, and scooted a bit closer, since Chloe’s voice had gotten quieter and she wanted to hear every word.

“She disappeared about … six months ago. No one knows what happened, not even like, her family.”

Chloe unconsciously folded the photo up again from muscle memory and stuffed it into one of her pockets.

Max stayed quiet, partially because she didn’t know what to say, partially because Chloe didn’t seem like she was finished.

And she wasn’t.

“Rachel is … she’s hard to describe. Like … imagine someone who can be your suit of armor when you’re weak, your muse when you’re uninspired, your …”

Chloe brought her hands up and squeezed her fists together with a harsh exhale before looking back down, putting her hands back on the bed, and looking back to Max,

“Your heat when you feel cold. She was an aspiring actress, then an aspiring musician, then an aspiring model, but, honestly …”

Chloe looked off to her floor.

“Rachel can do anything she puts her mind to. I know it. And she knows I’ll be behind her every step of the way.”

Unstated because it was simply unconscious on Chloe’s behalf was Rachel’s influence on how she talked – the little poetic flair from just years of hearing Rachel wax poetically about this and that.

She went quiet after that, careful in consideration.

This was difficult to talk about, but she had used all of the tears her body had for crying long ago.

And it always felt kind of nice to tell others how important Rachel was, is, to her.

Max bit her own lip in her own consideration and just stayed deathly quiet.

Chloe was clearly … not coping well with her being missing, and that was hardly surprising given how important she sounded to her, but …

What do you say?

What can anyone say?

Max hoped Rachel was alright, but after six months of no one being the wiser …

Still.

Chloe could use the hope, Max decided.

She scooted that much closer and thoughtfully put a hand on Chloe’s shoulder.

Chloe jumped – very slightly – and her body tensed up, and Max almost thought about removing her hand in a dread of doing too much too soon, but Chloe looked up from the floor, met Max’s eyes, smiled a little bit, sighed gently, and relaxed.

She looked back down to the floor.

Emboldened by the little signs of encouragement, Max squeezed Chloe’s shoulder and tried to build up the confidence to say what she wanted to.

It actually took her a few tries, and a few quick rewinds, to get the delivery just right.

“I’m going to love meeting her, then. When we find her. She sounds amazing, Chloe.”

That landed hard on Chloe, and she emitted just this most hurt, fragile whimper, and she sniffled, and she leaned over into Max’s side, soaking up the affection from her hand for all it was worth.

“Fuck, Max …”

Chloe didn’t want to talk, because she didn’t want Max to hear her when she was like this, for some stupid fucking reason, but she appreciated the thought so much she didn’t know what to do.

Max helping her find Rachel.

On some adventure.

Just like they were kids again.

Chloe melted for a few seconds and was broken, but one of the nice things about breaking apart so often is she knew how to piece herself back together.

So after maybe a minute of just listening to the song and enjoying Max’s warmth, Chloe suddenly sat up straight, then launched up into a standing position.

Harsh, deep exhale.

“And she’ll love meeting you too, Max. When we find her.”

Max smiled, and so did Chloe, even if Max couldn’t see it.

Chloe ambled over to her hi-fi, tore out the CD, tossed it to where she had tossed the jewel case earlier, and slammed in another.

 

“Enough of the feelsy shit. Time to mosh, Max!”

 

_[When things go wrong](https://open.spotify.com/track/05yLEwlInauww2BqN8zHHE) _

_As they sometimes will_

 

Max blinked. The music was immediately, and utterly, so far apart from what she’d usually listen to – but –

Chloe excitedly flew over to Max on the bed, grabbed her by the wrists, and pulled her in the center of the room to start dancing.

 

_When the road you’re trudging_

_Seems all uphill_

“Chloe --- I can’t ---”

Chloe just giggled excitedly, happily,

“--- Fuck it, Max, I don’t care! Just dance, hippy!”

 

This music wasn’t the kind Max enjoyed.

Honestly, she was pretty overwhelmed, right now.

But Chloe was so happy, so into it, so excited with the way her body gyrated and twisted and turned and –

 

_When the funds are low_

_And the debts are high_

Max was a pathetic dork who couldn’t dance, but that didn’t matter, right here, right now.

She was only dancing for an audience of one.

One who didn’t care.

 

_When you want to smile_

_But you have to sigh_

Max danced.

She closed her eyes and just enjoyed this experience that she wouldn’t have otherwise had without Chloe’s encouragement.

Something Max didn’t know how badly she was missing until it was back into her life so suddenly.

 

_When care is pressing you down a bit_

_Rest if you must but don’t quit_

Chloe variously closed her eyes and watched Max unwind in front of her, go along with some scheme Chloe had in her mind, just enjoy herself for the moment.

The moment.

This moment.

Here.

And now.

Not in the past.

Chloe was living for now, right now, and she didn’t know what to make of that.

But she did enjoy watching Max, who definitely couldn’t dance, try to mosh and dance with her.

She always went along with whatever Chloe wanted to do when they were younger.

Just like Chloe always went along with whatever Rachel wanted to do.

 

The CD was actually a mixtape, and there was like 20 songs on it, but the good thing about most punk music is how short the songs are, so it wasn’t too much longer when Chloe turned the hi-fi off and pulled Max onto her bed, just giggling contently and excitedly.

Max was giggling with her, a stupid blush on her face from getting worked up from all of the dancing and movement, and Chloe probably looked much the same.

Fuck.

They landed on the bed with a bit too much force, and the bed complained a little, but whatever.

For a few seconds, they just breathed heavily and stared at each other, resting plainly on their sides.

Chloe had her hand on Max’s shoulder since she had tugged her onto the bed, and excitedly tapped her fingers in some pattern on that shoulder while they just lay there.

Quiet.

“You’re a regular mosher, dude. Get you some pink hair dye and take you to some bar sometime. It’d be great.”

Max couldn’t help but smile at the words, and the idea of spending more time with Chloe was quite compelling, even if she still wasn’t sure she enjoyed the music all of that much.

She’d be making Chloe happy, which made Max happy.

“Yeah? Would you say I’m ready for the mosh-pit, shaka-brah?”

It came out without thinking, and Chloe had this pained wince like the words caused her physical, indominable pain, and Max considered rewinding but –

“Uh … maybe not. You fucking … oh my god Max, you’re such a dork.”

But it was endeared, not annoyed, and the two of them were still smiling so pleasantly.

Chloe’s hand went behind to Max’s back and she tugged her in even closer for a hug, and it was one of those too-tight Chloe hugs.

Max rested her face in Chloe’s collarbones, and the two just melted together for a few seconds, enjoying the moment and calming down from their exertion.

Chloe closed her eyes.

Max closed her eyes.

“I’m really happy today happened, Max.”

Max smiled.

“I am too, Chloe …”

Chloe exhaled harshly, deeply.

“Lots of … weird shit happening today, and … ugh. Everything. But I missed you, and I missed this shit.”

Max made a thoughtful and questioning humming sound.

The two of them separated and laid on their backs.

“I missed you too, Chloe … a lot.”

In the day to day, Max could almost forget about the part of her life that was missing without Chloe in it, since she had school and everything, but …

It would be hard to forget it now, with such a fresh and awesome experience in her mind.

Max took Chloe’s hand without thinking too much about it, and they intertwined their fingers.

Squeeze.

Chloe looked over to Max.

Max looked over to Chloe.

“And I know I … messed up, and I’m such an _asshole_ for … everything, but …”

Chloe blinked.

“I don’t want to leave you ever again, Chloe.”

Chloe exhaled a harsh thing and looked up to her ceiling.

She brought their hands up, too, and gently swayed them back and forth for a few seconds in her consideration.

“Forever together, Max.”

Max smiled.

 

The moment was nice, and Max looked off to the ceiling herself, and just rested easily.

They both closed their eyes and just melted.

 

Eventually, though, Max groaned a little bit and separated, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Um … I really should get going, though. I have … school stuff to do.”

Max also wanted to spend some time with Kate, since how she was acting earlier was desperately concerning.

Chloe nodded.

“Yeah … yeah okay.”

She hesitated.

“Hey Max?”

Max blinked.

“Yeah Chloe?”

Chloe looked off to her desk.

“Your broken camera …”

If Max was even one iota like Rachel, then expression was important to her.

A broken camera simply wouldn’t do.

Max looked back to Chloe, and their eyes met briefly, and Chloe smiled, and Max smiled, even if she didn’t know why they were smiling, since a broken camera was a _bad_ thing but –

Chloe then giggled, pushed herself off of the bed, and hurriedly made her way to her desk.

She opened one of the drawers and furtively pulled something out, then turned around and kept it hidden behind her with a little smirk.

Max watched her go and do this with no uncertain amount of blinking.

“Um … ?”

Chloe grinned.

“Guess what I have.”

Max blinked.

“I don’t know.”

Chloe groaned and rolled her eyes.

“I said _guess_.”

Max exhaled slightly, amused.

“Uhhhh … a camera? Probably?”

Chloe nodded happily and sat herself down right next to Max on the edge of the bed with a bit too much force again.

“Ding ding ding. But not just _any_ camera …”

Chloe had been hiding it as best she could, despite the proximity, but now revealed the gig fully and totally, presenting William’s old camera for Max to take.

“My dad’s old beater. You should have it.”

Max looked down to it, then back to up to Chloe, and she bit her lip for a second or two.

She didn’t immediately take it, though, and Chloe’s eyes bounced up and down from Max’s hands to her face for any sign that she would.

“Chloe … you know I can’t …”

Chloe scoffed and shoved it into Max’s hands, anyway.

“Don’t make this all emotional and shit, Max. I’ve had … enough of that, for today.”

Max looked down to the camera and ran her fingers along it, finally accepting it.

Not an unreasonable request, given the whole missing girlfriend thing.

Plus, it was a nice camera.

Nicer than her old one, even if Chloe didn’t think so.

Chloe watched her examine it.

“I … never got into photography, anyway. So it’s better in your hands.”

Max smiled, barely.

“I don’t know what to say, Chloe.”

The two went quiet.

“It’s just … important, y’know, for y’all artsy types to have … some way to express yourselves.”

Max thought about the sentiment, and nodded without realizing it, still just examining and playing with the camera.

A thought occurred, and it was something Max deliberated on bringing up, but she could always just rewind if Chloe took it poorly.

“Um … was Rachel a photographer?”

Chloe frowned just slightly, but then exhaled, amused.

“No. She … _is_ …”

Chloe really emphasized the ‘is’,

“… more of someone to be in front of a camera, not behind it. I took some photos of her with that, but they’re all garbage.”

Max shook her head, slightly.

“I’m … sure they’re just fine, Chloe.”

She looked up to Chloe with a slight smile, and Chloe returned the sentiment.

 “I’d like to see them sometime.”

Chloe smiled a bit wider.

“… y-yeah.”

The thought of going through old photos of Rachel with Max sounded … very difficult, but maybe therapeutic.

Chloe looked off to the floor again.

“I’d think I’d like that, Max. Come by tomorrow. I’ll show you some photos and we can plan on how to find Rachel.”

Max’s smile just died a little bit, since it was still hard for to believe there was any hope in finding Rachel.

But if Chloe wanted to still try …

Max would be by her every step of the way.

No matter where it led them.

“Okay.”

 

Chloe drove Max back to campus, dropped her off, and watched her walk back to her dorms.

When she was out of sight, Chloe slammed her head against the steering wheel again, and just breathed deeply.

Fuck.

This was nothing like how she imagined today was going to play out.

Almost getting killed, giving away her dad’s old camera, reconnecting with Max …

Chloe ran her hands up and down the steering wheel idly while she thought.

Her hope of finding Rachel had been severely strained in the months of just … nothing.

She didn’t get any real information that would help her along, and didn’t have any leads anymore.

It was just blind hope that Rachel was still alive and she’d just stumble onto her, some day.

But …

With Max in the picture …

Who knows.

It’d certainly be less soul-sucking to put up the missing posters while she had someone to talk to, or something.

Maybe all this needed was a fresh pair of eyes, and they’d find her tomorrow, and everything would be fine, and nothing would hurt again.

Small sigh.

That was delusional.

Wasn’t it?

Six months is a long time.

Rachel was … no.

Chloe collected herself, sat up straight, and drove back to her house.

Rachel was still alive.

She knew it.

Rachel was still alive, and Max was going to help her find her.

Then the three of them would live happily ever after.

Her best friend, and her girlfriend, and her.

Forever together.

 


	2. Chloe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joyce wonders about Chloe.
> 
> Max wonders about Chloe.
> 
> Chloe wonders about a burger, and Kate.

Chloe walked into the Two Whales diner with a frown on her face, her body slumped, and her hands shoved into her jean’s pockets.

Not a good morning.

Talking feelsy stuff with Max yesterday was nice, but … it resurfaced some stuff Chloe didn’t want to think about, and it made her a little pensive.

She had another fucking too-real dream of Rachel, and it was the one she always had, where they were in Santa Monica, and Rachel had an amazing excuse for why she disappeared for months, something easy and simple to understand, something that made Chloe out into the overreacting idiot she always was.

Some things faded, but that fucking dream never did.

She shoved the door open to the diner and looked around.

Max was on the far side of the diner, waiting patiently, since Chloe was late, since who cared about being punctual.

Joyce was here, too, and shouted back while filling up a cup of coffee.

“Welcome to the Two Whales diner, home of the famous …”

She looked back and saw it was Chloe.

“Oh. Hi sweetie.”

Joyce smiled, but Chloe didn’t.

“Yeah.”

Whatever.

She didn’t _want_ to be upset at her, just … she never sided with Chloe when Chloe needed it.

Only a few paltry times when Chloe was getting ready to fucking run away, and then it almost felt like a guilt-trip.

Shit didn’t work anymore.

Joyce frowned, but Chloe didn’t care as she waltzed over to the booth with Max, and sat down on it a bit too harshly.

Fuck that shit.

Max is here.

Focus on that.

Chloe smiled, barely, and Max smiled in return, as Chloe started to drum on the table.

“Hey hey Max, how’s it been?”

Max smiled a bit wider at Chloe’s bouncy attitude, unaware that she was the only thing that inspired it out of her these days.

“Um, I’m putting one foot in front of the other, so … okay, I guess.”

Chloe scoffed, and looked away from Max briefly.

“Damn that’s … that’s too real. Imma need you to be a bit more silly.”

She looked back to Max with a playful smile, and Max returned it.

“Oh. Ah. Okay. How about …”

Max looked away herself at some of the curious patrons of the diner before looking back to Chloe.

“… I say that I’ve been enjoying talking to Kate and playing with her bunny.”

Chloe blinked.

“Is that a euphemism … or … ?”

Max hesitated for a second or two, blushed badly, and slapped at the table near Chloe’s hand.

Chloe just grinned obnoxiously and shied away from the slap, though not as though it offended her that much.

“ _Chloe_! No. It’s … she’s not like that.”

Chloe rolled her eyes.

“Uh-huh. Sure she ain’t. Those religious types are always into fun stuff. Betcha she’s got some whips under her bed. Girl’s mad into pussy, I’m telling you.”

Max blinked and blushed a bit more.

Joyce cleared her throat, and the two of them looked to her with no uncertain amounts of blinking.

“Do I even want to know?”

Max was mortified, utterly speechless and just dumbly gaping her mouth that _this_ of all things was her reintroduction to Joyce.

Chloe just scoffed.

“Nah. Too gay for your ears. Where’s the food?”

Joyce impatiently crossed her arms, but there was some amusement on her face.

Mostly, she was just overjoyed to see Chloe being playful and happy for once, even if she was being inappropriately vulgar and embarrassing poor little Max.

“You have to order before you get food, dear.”

She uncrossed her arms and pulled out a pen and some paper for writing on.

“Speaking of. What’d’ll’all’y’all darlings want this fine morning?”

Chloe looked to Max, who was still just horrified.

She cleared her throat, and Max looked back to Chloe.

“I think I want a burger.”

Max blinked.

“It’s … not even noon.”

Joyce rolled her eyes.

Chloe frowned.

“Are you telling me I _can’t_ have a burger?”

Max considered responding seriously to this, but …

 _Imma need you to be a bit more silly_.

Max smiled playfully, and looked off to Joyce.

“Two orders of pancakes, please, Joyce. And some orange juice.”

Joyce smiled and started writing down the order pleasantly, but,

Chloe groaned.

“One order of orange juice and a can of PBR.”

Joyce finished writing down and when she put her pen and paper away she gently flicked Chloe on the forehead.

“Ow!”

Chloe raised her hand up to rub at her temples in a way that was purposefully exaggerated.

“Behave. I expect you to be on your best behavior in the diner. Don’t you go embarrass me in front of our customers. You’ll be working here in a little while, you know.”

Chloe kept on rubbing, and frowned some at the reminder.

She looked away from Joyce to Max.

“Yeah. Whatever.”

Joyce’s expression became pained, and she spared a momentary look at Max.

Max didn’t know how to read all of the emotion in Joyce’s eyes, but there sure was a lot.

It was so weird seeing Chloe so careless about her relationship with her mother, too.

They used to be so close.

What happened?

Did Rachel’s disappearance cause this too?

Either way, Joyce knew she wouldn’t get anything better out of Chloe, so she turned on her heel and walked behind the counter, breathing a heavy sigh.

At least it was nice to see Chloe warming up to Max like that.

Max watched her silently go and allowed Chloe’s awkward refusal of Joyce’s talking to just hang in the air for a little while.

Then she looked back to Chloe.

“Are you … always like that with her?”

Chloe frowned.

“Fuck her.”

Max blinked some more.

“W-what? You two ---”

Chloe spared Joyce a look to make sure she was out of earshot before looking back to Max,

“--- I know. Max. I know. But a lot can change in five years. And now she’s just riding my ass to get a job and siding with stepshit all of the time ---”

Max tilted her head to the side,

“--- step … shaz?”

Chloe blinked,

“--- Oh my god can you not say ‘shit’? That’s the cutest goddamn ---”

Max blushed some more and Chloe exhaled, amused, but shook her head and sobered up her expression some.

“My step dad. Joyce remarried to some … fucking Nazi, he hates me, we fight all of the time, she sides with him. Like I said. Fuck her. Bitch can die in a fire for all I care.”

Max frowned, even though she was still blushing, and didn’t know what to say to soothe Chloe’s damage.

She had a guess, though.

“You don’t mean that.”

Fuck.

Chloe looked away from Max with a small groan, then crossed her arms and placed them both on the table with a bit too much force and making a bit too loud of a noise.

Then she plopped her head down into her arms and just melted for a few seconds.

Recomposing.

After this, she brought her head out of her arms and looked to Max again, her eyes slightly irritated and redder, but no other visible signs of distress, and her body was still slumped forward.

“I don’t know … can we … _not_ … here? I … I can tell you later. I think. Whatever you want to know.”

Oh no, Chloe.

Chloe’s mood was so easily damaged by a little pushing Max wondered how much the silly attitude was a front.

Her line from earlier smacked Max in the face again.

_Imma need you to be a bit more silly._

What if that was an actual need?

Max’s heart strings were so effortlessly tugged at Chloe looking so vulnerable and hurt from how Joyce apparently remarried and betrayed her, but … she did kind of have a point.

This was a pretty terrible place to have a conversation like that, so she just nodded.

“Okay.”

Chloe smiled, barely.

“Okay?”

Max smiled, too.

“Okay.”

Chloe sighed contently and sat herself upright to resume drumming on the table with a few fingers and stomping a pattern with one of her boots.

“Rad. Now. Let’s talk about this girlfriend of yours --- Kate?”

Max blushed some more, and she really didn’t know just how much she could blush around Chloe but Chloe always seemed to find more and more ways to draw it out.

“She’s not my … _girlfriend_ …”

Chloe rolled her eyes.

“Uh-huh. Let me guess. She’s just someone you like spending a lot of time around.”

Max blinked.

“Uh. Yeah.”

Chloe grinned.

“And you have dates with her.”

Max frowned.

“Tea dates ---”

Chloe grinned wider.

“--- yeahwhatever – and you want to hold her hand sometimes.”

Max frowned more deeply.

“I want to hold all of my friends’ hands.”

Well. Except Warren. But Chloe didn't need to know that.

Chloe giggled and tapped excitedly at the desk.

“Yuuuuup. Sure you do.”

Max groaned, closed her eyes, and looked up to the ceiling, before back down to Chloe.

“Not that it’s any of your business … or anything, but she’s … straight. We’re … not like that.”

Chloe blinked, and calmed down a little bit.

For some reason, her immediate gut thought was to ask Max if _she_ was straight.

But that was – no.

Inappropriate.

Max was her best friend.

Chloe was with Rachel.

For three years.

It didn’t matter if Max was straight or not.

“Oh. Harshing my buzz here, Max.”

Max sighed and crossed her arms.

“Sorry, I guess.”

It was a little awkward, but thankfully, Joyce came by with their food and delivered both of their plates.

“Here y’all go. I’ll be right back with your OJ. Syrup’s right there.”

Max welcomed the distraction to change the topic.

“Thank you so much, Joyce. It smells delicious.”

Quiet.

Chloe didn’t say anything, so Max frowned slightly and looked over to her meaningfully.

Chloe blinked and met Max’s expectant stare.

“Yeah. Whatever. Food’s good.”

Joyce spared Chloe another look but left with only the smallest of sighs this time as she went to get them their drinks.

Max and Chloe were quiet, after that, just sort of solemnly eating.

There was so much Max wanted to talk to Chloe about – her time in Seattle, Max’s new friends, Blackwell, Mr. Jefferson, photography … Rachel … Max’s fucking magic time powers … the storm vision … but now just didn’t feel like the right time.

Plus, these pancakes were _really_ good.

And Chloe was a voracious eater.

She tried to eat two pancakes at once by kind of awkwardly shoving them both in her mouth in the most undignified yet strangely efficient manner possible.

She was a fast eater, and had all of hers gone by the time Max had just finished one, and even had the gall to stare hungrily at Max’s share while she ate, as though what she just inhaled wasn’t good enough.

It was kind of endearing, but it made Max worry about her burger promise from yesterday.

How many burgers did it take to fill Chloe?

Her wallet was never going to stop hurting after this.

 

Max noticed some other stuff while Chloe just plainly and a little impatiently watched her eat.

Chloe never brought her phone out to check it for updates, whereas Max had hers on the table to see of any updates as soon as they came in, even if she wasn’t that active of a Facebook user or a texter.

It just felt nice to be connected.

Chloe didn’t seem to be the same way.

Maybe she didn’t have anyone to be connected to?

And she really had changed so much in all of this time – at least in her appearance.

Her nose was a little bumpy and crooked.

The tattoos and dyed hair, obviously

It looks like she had some healed-over spots from piercings.

She had some minor scars on her face, a much more serious-looking one on her neck, and there were cuts and little marks still healing up all along Chloe’s hands and arms.

Where’d they all come from?

Chloe wasn’t getting into fights, was she?

Max had to admit she sort of looked like the type to, but … that was bad to judge someone by how they looked.

There was something else to Chloe, too, though.

Despite the tough exterior bruised and scratched and scarred and dyed and everything, there was the way her eyes jittered just slightly whenever Max’s eyes met them.

There was the little way her lips curled up ever so slightly when Max talked.

How it seemed like her body just had too much energy and she constantly needed to vent some off by tapping, jittering, swaying, moving somehow someway.

She sat so wide in the booth, like she was trying to take up as much space as physically possible.

How embarrassing it was to talk to her about Kate didn’t even register as an offense, any more.

 

Soon enough, Max finished her food, and the two of them stood up to leave.

Chloe didn’t tip but Max sighed and put down what she could – two singles, one for each of them.

It wasn’t much, but it was something.

Chloe just rolled her eyes at Max doing this.

When they were almost about to leave, though, Max’s phone rang, and she quickly brought it up to see who it was, since she didn’t get called all of that often.

Kate!

Oh –

Did she miss –

No, probably not –

What –

“Excuse me, Chloe, it’s Kate.”

Chloe frowned.

She blocked the exit to the diner dramatically and crossed her arms.

“Max …”

And her voice was a little dangerous.

Max blinked and looked up to Chloe, suddenly being reminded of the fact Chloe was huge in comparison, and wondered what the heck was going on.

“Chloe --- whatever --- I don’t --- this is important ---”

Chloe’s frown deepened.

Fuck.

Two hours into being reunited with Max and she’s already trying to cancel and go off with her not-girlfriend girlfriend?

Chloe saw right through Max.

And she wasn’t buying it.

All she had to do was turn Max’s words against her.

Something she was quite good at, by now.

“And I’m _not_ important?”

Max blinked.

“Chloe, no, come on, I just --- she’s kind of in a not a good place and ---”

Chloe brought her hands up in an irritated gesture before lowering them back down to her sides.

She was slightly jittery as she stood, with just a small bounce of her shoulders and movement of her body to some rhythm Max wasn’t aware of.

“And I am? You go on lots of tea dates with her but seem awful quick to try and get away from me.”

Max could tell she was losing this, and she never remembered Chloe being so … needy, and stubborn.

Was this Rachel’s impact on her, too? Or the impact of her disappearance?

Crap.

Max was running out of time before Kate would give up on ringing.

She could just call her back, but … still.

“Chloe, _please_ , it’s not like that _at all_ , I love spending time with you, just …”

She didn’t know what to say.

Chloe did, though.

She scoffed.

“Just you love spending time with her more, I got it. Thanks, Max. You’re a real good friend.”

Chloe gestured vaguely with her hand, turned around on her heel, and stormed out of the diner.

Fuck.

 

Max just uselessly blinked as Chloe moodily made her way out of the diner.

What the heck.

Was that her fault, somehow?

Why did Chloe interpret just one phone call as Max canceling on her?

It was only going to be like … a minute, at the most, and they’d continue their plans right afterwards and go to her house for Rachel stuff.

She had a lot of questions about Chloe’s behavior and so little answers.

It certainly seemed like she was worse for wear, after all of this time … so close to crying about Rachel and her mother and so easily hurt and made to fight.

Was that Max’s fault?

Or Rachel’s?

William's?

Everyone’s?

She’d have to talk with Chloe more to figure out what her deal was, she decided.

She looked down to her phone only to see Kate had stopped ringing.

Of course.

Ugh.

Chloe was still storming off …

Max decided Chloe probably needed her time to deal with … whatever all of that was, and chasing after her might just annoy her more.

Even if they had some stuff to talk about.

Whatever.

Max tried to call Kate back, but was bounced straight to voice mail, meaning she probably just turned her phone off when Max failed to pick up.

Oh no, Kate.

“Hey, Kate, it’s Max …”

Max’s voice came out so gentle but she had to make it slightly louder than she wanted just to overcome the ambience of the diner.

“Sorry I couldn’t pick up. Um. Call me back? Please. I hope … I hope everything’s okay. Okay? Talk to you soon. Bye.”

Max kind of knew it wasn’t, and Kate’s reaction to Max not picking it up only further worried her that something wrong was going on.

Plus, Chloe …

Ugh.

What a terrible turn to her morning.

Max decided there was no use standing still here awkwardly anymore so she put her phone away and left the diner.

“ _Wait_ \--- Max.”

Max blinked.

Joyce was following after her.

She hurriedly got up right next to Max, which was sort of impressive, since she was wearing these massive heeled shoes.

Just like Chloe, now that Max thought about it, though Chloe had heeled boots instead.

“I saw everything. Chloe can be … difficult, these days. She hasn’t been the same since Rachel … disappeared. Please don’t take it personally. That’s still the happiest I’ve seen in her in _months_ and --- you can be _such_ a good influence on her and –“

Joyce was getting ahead of herself, seeming a little desperate to make Max more comfortable with Chloe’s moodiness.

Max nodded, though it didn’t really make her feel any better about Chloe just … arguing with her like that, nor did it take the sting out of any of her words, or the feeling like she had let Chloe down, somehow.

“Um. Thanks, Joyce. I wasn’t expecting her to … just blow up on me like that.”

Joyce sighed and put one hand on her waist, putting more weight on one side of her body.

Her face became more relaxed as Max seemed to not be outwardly upset at the altercation.

“Chloe has been looking for fights constantly. I can’t even begin to tell you how often she gets dropped off _by the police_ for doing something. It’s not you, I promise. She’s just … lost. She needs someone like you in her life, again.”

Max blinked.

“Like … me?”

Joyce smiled.

“You two were so close as kids. I know y’all haven’t been keeping in touch, but … I know you had your reasons. Just know that Chloe needs you now, even if she pushes you away.”

Max sighed wearily.

Chloe _needed_ her?

Oh, Chloe.

Max rubbed at her arm and looked away from Joyce.

“I don’t know if I can be … that … to her. Rachel …”

Joyce sighed herself.

“Rachel’s gone, Max. I don’t think she’s coming back. You’re all she got, now.”

Oh, Chloe …

Max frowned, a little, but looked back to Joyce.

She wanted to know something.

“How was she before Rachel … left?”

Joyce hesitated, but, smiled.

She crossed her arms.

“As good as she’s ever been. Rachel wasn’t the _best_ of influences on her, but Chloe isn’t exactly a stellar influence either. More importantly, she could get Chloe to just … chill, and not act out. Things were so nice between her and David for a while with Rachel around …”

Oh, Chloe …

Max bit her lip.

Rachel’s disappearance tanked Chloe’s family life, too?

Just how important _was_ Rachel to Chloe?

… would Max ever be as important?

“Chloe didn’t sound like she liked David too much …”

She just assumed David was the ‘nazi’ Chloe talked about.

Joyce shook her head.

“She doesn’t. Look, Max, no matter what Chloe says – David is not a perfect man, by _any_ stretch of the imagination, but good Lord above is he _trying._ Chloe just ain't trying no more. She’s given up on everything. That’s why she needs you. She _tries_ around you --- tries to make you laugh, and smile, and … whatever else. Just. Please. For me. Don’t give up on her.”

Max sighed just one more time, but felt pretty convinced by now.

She didn’t know if she could handle Chloe being like … that … more often, though.

Spinning everything she said against her, like it was impossible to say anything right.

“Okay … I guess I’ll go talk to her. Do you know where she probably went off to?”

Joyce nodded.

“When she gets … like that, she tends to head off to the junkyard. You know over by ---”

Max blinked.

“--- I know. We used to go there as kids.”

Joyce’s eyes widened.

“Lord almighty I did _not_ hear that.”

Max blinked, but giggled softly.

“Oh, sorry, Joyce. We were … um, safe.”

Joyce just sighed and shook her head.

“Well, you’re both still alive now, so … I guess so. Anyway. I need to be heading back. Just remember. It’s not you. She needs you now more than ever.”

Max nodded pleasantly as Joyce turned around and walked back into the diner.

Heavy, deep sigh.

Max crossed her arms and considered her options.

Classes were starting soon.

She needed to talk to Kate, and Chloe.

Talking to Chloe felt a little bit more important.

Chloe actually talked to Max about her issues, and she felt like she could have some kind of impact there.

Kate just …

Closed herself off.

Maybe the phone call would have changed that, but Max had no way of knowing.

Kate still hadn’t called back, and probably still hadn’t even turned her phone back on.

She really needed to talk to _someone_ about these goddamn magic time powers.

Oh.

Crap.

Goddamn magic time powers.

She probably could have rewound that …

She just simply forgot.

She only got these powers yesterday.

Maybe that would let her deal with Chloe if she tried that again.

She’d have infinite tries to find something that’d ease her, after all.

Yeah.

This would probably help her with Kate, too …

Max felt so scared to push her for more information in case she took it poorly, but if she could just rewind when that happened …

Max had a real chance of making a difference in both of their lives.

Okay.

New plan.

She’d go to the junkyard first and hope she could get back in time for classes and Kate.

With a little luck, this could all work out, somehow.

Hopefully.

She just hoped she could get everything under control before Friday …

Max didn’t even want to think about how that storm might complicate things.

Too scary a thought, for now.

She’d deal with it _after_ soothing Chloe and Kate.

Hopefully.

 

Chloe drove off to the junkyard with no small amount of regret.

But she was fighting with herself if she should even regret backtalking Max like that.

A lot of people deserved her anger, but … maybe Max wasn’t one of them.

Or maybe she did?

Max ignored her for years and years.

Ugh, no.

Come on.

Just like Rachel said.

_Don’t resent her for what she might have been. Just try to appreciate what you had with her as it was._

The thought was comforting, in the way that only Rachel could comfort her.

She shifted into another gear and smiled, gently.

Whatever.

Situation with Kate couldn’t be that bad.

Chloe didn’t fuck things up too bad by being kind of a bitch there.

It was just one phone call, right?

Couldn’t be that big of a deal.

Hopefully.


	3. Max

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max rediscovers herself with Chloe's help.
> 
> Max reveals her big secret to Chloe.
> 
> Chloe kinda almost passes out.

This junkyard was the closest thing Chloe had to a home.

It wasn’t quite as such since anyone could just waltz in here, like Frank, and pressure her for money or something again, because it was known that this was her favorite haunting ground.

But it was still whatever.

She could never be fully off-guard here, but she couldn’t in her mother’s home anyway with David around.

And if she locked her truck she could feel kinda safe and just not think about stuff for a while.

Like she did right now.

She tried to relax, as much as she could.

About the only good thing about her truck was the three-abreast seating in the front, even if it was something of a stretch to get a third person in there, because it meant she had enough space to lie down.

And just exist for a little while.

Chloe closed her eyes and smoked some weed.

It helped her to forget Max trying to find an excuse to get away from her as soon as she could.

Of course Max didn’t really want to spend time around her.

She was just a dangerous asshole now.

Some worthless burnout punk.

 

She fell asleep.

 

When she opened her eyes again, she was suddenly somewhere else.

She was cold, and wet, and miserable and –

What the fuck.

Her clothes were _drenched_ from rain.

She was at … Blackwell?

Chloe looked around and –

Oh my god.

The most horrifying hurricane? Typhoon? Tornado? she never knew the right name but it was fucking massive.

It completely eclipsed the ocean.

There was a blood redness to everything around her, the sky, even though the clouds were thick and oppressive.

It looked like the end of the goddamn world.

She saw angry lightening strikes pour out vengefully from the storm – is that how these things worked?

The sound was almost worse than the sight.

It was like there was a fucking jet right next to her – a horrid metallic screeching from the wind, an immediate indication something was _wrong_.

What the fuck.

What the fuck.

She had to –

Get to a shelter –

Fuck there wasn’t one near Blackwell –

Uh –

Inside –

Chloe didn’t hesitate after getting over the shock of seeing this monster of a storm.

She ran towards the building she was closest to on campus – the gym with the pool.

She heard a scream to her right about half way there –

And saw a giant piece of wood coming right for her from the wind.

Holy fuck –

She raised her hand up and closed her eyes –

 

\---

 

Knock knock knock.

Chloe gasped a horrid shuddering thing and blinked her eyes open again.

She was … safe?

In her truck.

Her only home.

Dry, not wet, and the world wasn’t fucking ending.

Jesus what a dream.

Nightmare.

Whatever.

She almost didn’t know if she preferred the ones that taunted her with Rachel.

At least she was happy while she was dreaming in those, and not fucking terrified.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Oh, right.

Chloe looked over to the source of the noise.

Max?

How did she get here?

Did she fucking walk all of this way?

… for Chloe?

She was knocking on the passenger’s side window.

Chloe blinked and carefully sat herself up, scooted over to the driver’s side, and leaned over to open the door.

Max sort of awkwardly put herself in Chloe’s truck and closed the door quietly.

Quiet.

It was awkward, and that was Chloe’s fault, she knew, but …

Max looked away from Chloe.

Chloe looked away from Max.

Small sigh.

Chloe looked back to Max.

Max looked back to Chloe.

“Um. So …”

Chloe still felt weird from waking up from her nightmare, but her mood was changing with Max around pretty easily, even if she was kinda upset at her still.

Max sighed.

“Yeah …”

Chloe frowned a little.

So did Max.

“Where’s your girlfriend? If you were so quick to ---”

Max groaned.

“--- Chloe.”

Chloe blinked and crossed her arms.

“Yeah?”

Max frowned.

“She’s _not_ my girlfriend. I _wasn’t_ cancelling on you. What happened? Why were you so … difficult? Like --- we have a _lot_ of things to talk about and I just …”

She kept her frown, but hesitated for a few seconds.

Chloe kept on blinking.

“… I don’t know. It just hurt to see you storm off like that.”

It took a few rewinds to get this speech close enough and it still didn’t come out as voluble as it was in Max’s head, but, whatever.

Chloe frowned herself.

“I …”

Max’s words were uncharacteristically convincing – like she knew exactly how Chloe was going to react and just ran through all of her points without Chloe even bringing them up.

She looked away from Max.

Kate wasn’t her girlfriend, seriously.

Max wasn’t cancelling, seriously.

Max was worried that Chloe ran off, seriously.

Max probably fucking walked for god knows only how long, just to see Chloe, seriously.

Fuck.

Chloe groaned and banged her head against the steering wheel once, and then slowly looked back to Max.

“I don’t know, Max, I just … got worried. Scared.”

Max blinked and inched a bit closer.

“… about?”

Chloe looked forward and nervously ran her hands along the steering wheel, jittering a little.

Did she really want to dump this on Max?

Fuck yes she did.

She desperately missed having someone she could tell _anything_ to.

Fuck it.

Chloe looked back to Max.

“That you didn’t really want to spend time with me. I’m such a … pathetic fuckup Max, there’s no way ---”

Max tactically deployed a touch to Chloe’s shoulder, and it kept Chloe from vibrating herself to death with nervous energy.

Chloe went quiet with a shuddering exhale and looked down to her lap.

She tried to relax and stop the spiraling that she knew was coming.

Max’s hand was pretty helpful to that end.

“… Chloe.”

 And her words sounded so concerned.

“Yeah Max?”

Max bit her own lip for a few seconds.

“I don’t … I don’t care about anything like that, Chloe. I like you … and stuff. I like spending time with you … even um, if you blow up on me … sometimes … for no reason. You’re my best friend in the entire world. I walked all of the way here just to make sure you were okay.”

Chloe considered the words for a few seconds, and nodded slowly.

She looked back forward, then to Max.

“… thanks, Max. I think I needed to hear that.”

Max smiled.

So did Chloe.

Max took her hand off but still remained scooted closer.

Chloe didn’t mind.

“… and sorry, I guess, for … being a bitch.”

Max smiled wider.

“It’s okay. I think I can talk with Kate about this.”

Chloe made a thoughtful sound.

She never really cared about Kate, but she cared at least a little if she was Max’s friend.

“What’s up with her, anyway? In the diner you said she was, what, not in a good place or sommat?”

Max nodded, slowly.

“Putting it mildly, yeah … poor girl. She doesn’t deserve those … vortex club assholes bullying her.”

Chloe frowned.

“Parties are lit but yeah fuck those guys.”

Max frowned, suddenly.

“No, Chloe, they’re not. Kate had a video recorded of her in one of them and … I don’t think she’s handling it going around well.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow.

“Who’d she fuck?”

Max sputtered an inelegant sound, blushing just some and playfully slapping at Chloe’s arm.

Chloe grinned and rubbed at the hit mark, not offended by it.

“ _Chloe_! It’s not like that. Just … she made out with some people. I think. I haven’t seen it.”

Chloe blinked.

“And that’s … a problem … why, exactly? Sounds like she had an awesome night.”

Max sighed and closed her eyes.

Chloe sure had changed.

Max opened her eyes again.

“Not everyone has blue hair and tattoos and loves making out with random people, you know.”

Chloe just shrugged with a playful grin.

“The ones that know how to live do. Seriously though.”

Max sighed.

“It probably has something to do with her religion. She’s very religious you know. And … she won’t talk to me about it.”

Chloe shrugged again and turned to rest her back against the driver’s side door, sticking her boots right in Max’s lap – without asking.

She melted, more comfy in this position, even if Max blinked a few too many times and didn’t quite know how to respond to the casual intimacy.

“Well … still dunno why she’s freaking about this but like –“

Max looked up from Chloe’s boots to Chloe to see her smiling so warmly,

“—If there’s a person who can get someone to open up, it’s you.”

Max smiled, and looked back down to Chloe’s boots.

She decided she didn’t mind them being there, though a warning or … asking … would have been nice.

The boots looked like Chloe in that there were signs of wear and tear and little cuts and scratches.

And the heels.

Max could never wear heels …

“Thanks … Chloe. But I’m … different, these days.”

She looked back up to Chloe.

Chloe tilted her head and crossed her arms.

“You seem basically the same to me.”

Max nodded.

“... around you, yeah …”

The two of them shared a deathly still and quiet moment where they were just looking at each other.

Max was still blushing a little from earlier, and she swore she saw just a little on Chloe’s cheeks too.

More importantly, it seemed to break Chloe somewhat, and she just stayed there blinking.

After a few too many seconds she looked away and broke her arms apart to rub at the back of her neck.

Fuck.

Why did that …

Why did that make Chloe feel so damn good?

And weird.

Like nervous or something.

Chloe couldn’t figure it out, but she shook her head as though she could dispel the thoughts physically, and tried to brush it off.

Whatever.

Just a fleeting thing.

Chloe grinned, oblivious to the slight blush on her own cheeks.

“What, you like mackin’ on strangers when I’m not around or something?”

And do that thing she picked up from Rachel when the quiet was weird and no one knew what to say – crack a joke.

Max smiled and made an amused exhale, shaking her head slightly.

“No … I’m just … kind of a useless idiot.”

Chloe crossed her arms.

“Aw, come on. Can’t be that bad. You’re too pure for your own good but … useless?”

Max smiled at the words, even if she wasn’t sure to take them as a compliment or just an observation, and nodded.

She looked down to Chloe’s boots.

“I mean … like … okay. Victoria keeps picking on me and I … never know what to say to her. And like … Jefferson has this … thing. A photography contest. I want to enter in my photos so badly but … I just … I can’t. I’m so stupid or … something … I don’t know. But I just … can’t.”

Chloe frowned a little.

It’d been a long goddamn time since she’d played therapist for anyone else, and those circuits of her brain were slow to warm.

The bitch circuits, however …

“Pfft. Vicky’s a bitch. Don’t sweat her saying shit to you. You don’t need to dignify her with a response. She’s probably just jealous or something anyway. Betchu she touches herself at night thinking about you.”

Max blushed some more and there was this weird feeling of being embarrassed and comforted at once that was so uniquely Chloe.

She gave her boots a loving pat and sighed warmly, but Chloe wasn’t done.

Chloe shifted her position and pulled her boots away to sit like how you’re actually _supposed_ to in a car and –

Then she turned slightly and leaned forward, placing both of her hands on the seat in the space between them and leaning real close to Max’s face.

“As far as the photo shit … I bet you can do it if you try. You can be a badass Max, I know it.”

Max blinked at Chloe’s quick movements and her sudden proximity.

She’d looked up to her when she removed her boots.

And she couldn’t stop smiling.

“Thanks … Chloe ---”

Chloe _still_ wasn’t done, though –

She moved to the glove compartment in front of Max and opened it, suddenly having a devious idea.

She pulled out a gun –

Max’s eyes went wide –

Chloe plopped it down on Max’s lap and pushed herself up into an upright sitting position with a huge grin.

“Let me prove it to you. We’re going to do some target practice.”

Max was shocked Chloe just kept a gun in her truck like it was no big deal.

Chloe _had_ changed.

So very, very much.

She didn’t touch the gun though, just stared at it, trying to blink through her shock.

“Chloe I-I can’t this is ---”

Chloe playfully shoved at Max’s shoulder and opened the driver’s side door.

She bounced out of the truck.

“Can’t hear you with the door closed, hipster.”

She grinned playfully, slammed the door closed, and bounced over to the front of the truck, where she just stared expectantly at Max with a huge shit-eating grin.

Max just kept on blinking and looked down to the gun.

She still hadn’t touched it.

She wasn’t the kind of girl to play with guns.

… or was she?

Maybe she just needed an excuse.

Maybe she just needed some reason to walk half way across town and shoot at stuff with Chloe.

This felt pretty dangerous, but Max felt safe around Chloe.

Surely she wasn’t going to expect her to shoot well …

Max sighed, and decided to pick up the gun with one of her hands after a few seconds of hesitation.

She didn’t know she was expecting holding a gun to feel like, but whatever this wasn’t that.

It just … felt like anything else.

Still, Max treated it with reverence as she carefully opened the door and made her way out of the truck – she kept the gun pointed down to the floor at all times.

She walked around to the front of the truck.

Chloe was smoking a cigarette and bouncing back and forth on her heels, like slightly leaning forward and back.

Still with that too-much-energy.

It made Max smile slightly.

When Chloe looked at her, she smiled too, and exhaled some smoke off to the side.

“Damn. Look it you with a gun. Someone’s about to kick some ass.”

Chloe always had a weakness for girls with guns.

Probably not a healthy thing.

Max just kept on smiling, a little endeared.

“I can’t believe you just had it sitting in your truck … and you smoke too?”

Chloe laughed and took another hit of her cigarette.

“Name a vice and I got it, baby. Chloe fuckin’ Price, resident dangerous punk, at your service.”

Max rolled her eyes but was still smiling.

“Guns are pretty dangerous, though …”

Chloe shrugged with a small grin and reached into her back pocket with her free hand –

Pulling out a switch blade –

Max’s eyes widened _again_ –

Chloe flicked it open before closing it and putting it back in her back pocket.

“Gotta be packing heat when you deal with drug dealers ‘n shit. Dangerous is the only language they speak.”

Max blinked, and put the gun down on the hood of the truck to cross her arms.

“ _Drug dealers_?”

Chloe laughed again.

“What, are you going to chide me for living dangerously now?”

Max uncrossed her arms and sighed.

“… maybe. It’s just … worrying, Chloe.”

Chloe frowned, a little.

All people did was worry about her.

She took another hit of her cigarette, then picked the gun up to shove it back in Max’s hands.

“Whatever. It’s fine. You’ll see. Come on.”

Chloe started walking more into the junkyard, looking for random things they could use as target practice.

Max awkwardly accepted the gun back into her hands and followed after Chloe.

Drug dealers, guns, knives …

What’s next?

Max just hoped Chloe’s drug use stopped at weed.

“Some gun ground rules, since … yeah, you and guns.”

Chloe snickered and looked back to Max briefly.

Max thought about being offended, but her and guns seemed like a pretty weird combo, so …

“Uh. Never point at anything you don’t want dead. Try to point at the ground whenever possible. Usually people use ear protection but that’s for pussies.”

Max had herself an amused sound at Chloe’s words.

But she _was_ paying attention, since this thing meant serious business …

“What you got there is a revolver. Stole it from stepshit since dude’s got like 80 guns. You are certifiably a badass just holding one … even you, Max.”

Max scoffed.

“I somehow think the effects aren’t the same for me …”

Chloe laughed in response.

“Yeah you are a bit of a dork, but … it’s chill.”

She looked back with a smile, and Max smiled, too.

“You just gotta own it. Fuck what anyone else thinks. You’re Max Caulfield, badass with a gun and friend of the legendary punk.”

Max smiled a bit more.

Chloe’s care-free attitude was endearing.

She wondered what she’d be like if she didn’t worry about disappointing Jefferson or worry about Victoria tearing into her …

Would she be a better student?

A Vortex Club member, maybe?

Or more?

Max looked down to the gun and started to examine it some more.

It was pretty obvious how you shoot a gun but there were levers and cylinders and chambers and a bunch of other stuff Max didn’t quite understand.

But even she could tell there were bullets in the gun and that meant she had to be careful with it.

Chloe said she took the gun from her step father – Chloe apparently stole too, on top of everything else – and that seemed legit. This gun was in far too nice a condition to be something Chloe owned.

No scratches, no marks, it was perfectly glossy and polished.

Whoever owned this originally took exceptional, meticulous care of it.

It made Max smile slightly wondering what he would think if he saw a scratch on it from Chloe’s mistreatment.

While Max was observing and thinking, Chloe was picking up bottles and putting out her cigarette.

She spared furtive glances back at Max, too.

Max just had this way of hyper-focusing on something when she was into it, like it was the only thing in the world to notice.

And her holding a gun was …

Chloe shook her head.

Come on.

They were best friends.

It was nothing compared to how hot it was when Rachel had one, anyway.

Right?

Yeah.

Max was too dorky to really own it.

Chloe was just being silly.

 

They came to a stop at the edge of the junkyard, facing the train tracks and expansive forest.

Right by the clubhouse, too.

Chloe turned on her heel and grinned.

“Go in the clubhouse and find us a chair or table or something I can put these bottles on so you can shoot ‘em.”

Max blinked and then pouted.

“While you do what, exactly?”

Chloe grinned wider.

“Sit here and look pretty. ‘sides I already got the bottles.”

Max still pouted.

Chloe leaned towards her and gave her her best puppy dog eyes.

“Pretty please?”

Max sighed wearily and put the gun in her waist line kind of awkwardly.

“Okay …”

Chloe wanted a few seconds to think about stuff anyway.

She still watched Max go with a smile, and Max didn’t seem to begrudge her all _that_ much.

It was just like when they were kids.

Max could never really say no to her …

Just like Chloe couldn’t say no to Rachel.

Ugh.

And that nightmare felt so real …

And Max just walking to check up on her?

Didn’t she have like school or something?

Chloe probably wasn’t a very good influence if she was skipping just to check up on her moody ass …                       

Ugh.

Whatever.

Max’s choice.

And she seemed to be enjoying herself.

For some reason.

People didn’t usually enjoy Chloe’s presence, since she usually didn’t shut up about Rachel.

Or she was being a bitch.

It felt weird to think about that being different around Max.

They just talked so easily – like how it was with her and Rachel.

Only Chloe was the one teasing Max.

The comparison that she was basically influencing Max like Rachel influenced her wasn’t lost on her, and she didn’t know what to make of it.

She wondered if Max would eventually get used to Chloe’s vulgarity and teasing like Chloe did to Rachel’s flirting.

When Chloe first met Rachel, she was so goddamn easy to turn into a blushing mess …

Just like Max.

Ugh.

At least it was kind of cute how much it got to her.

Did she not think about the stuff too often?

Girl had to be 18 or so now.

Yeah, 18.

If Kate _wasn’t_ her girlfriend, did she have one?

Did she even have her first kiss yet?

She wasn’t exactly smooth …

But the little freckles and mophead hair and animal shirts and all were endearing.

She couldn’t be the only one into that look, right?

Someone else surely.

Max probably at the very least had an Eliot in her life.

Ughhhhhhh.

Chloe shook her head viciously at that.

Better think about other things.

If Chloe really was Max's Rachel, she wondered if she’d have the same effect on figuring out her sexuality.

Max probably didn’t have someone as awesome as Steph to talk to about this kind of stuff …

If she was even gay at all.

Probably not.

Most girls aren’t.

But she didn’t seem offended when Chloe called Kate her girlfriend?

At least not at the part where it implied she was gay.

Straight girl would object to that, right?

Ugh why the fuck did she care at all.

Max was her best friend.

Only.

Even if she was a little hot with a gun Chloe wasn’t going to think about this stuff.

She was Rachel’s girlfriend for Christ’s sake.

Rachel would tear Max a new one if she knew Chloe was thinking about her like that.

… Rachel meeting Max.

There’s a nice thought.

Chloe breathed gently and got lost thinking about it.

 

Max came out a minute or two later with a cheap folding plastic chair, and unfolded it in front of Chloe.

Chloe took a second or two to dislodge herself from her idle fantasy and just smiled.

“Score.”

Chloe put the bottles down and placed one very carefully on the chair.

She then got close to Max – who blinked a few times – and reached to pull out her gun.

They were very close, now, but the intimacy felt very natural, and even if Max didn’t know how to respond, she didn’t tense up or anything to Chloe’s proximity and thoughtless touching.

Chloe walked behind Max and brought her arms around her in the world’s loosest hug and placed the gun very plainly in one of Max’s hands, and guided the other into holding the gun correctly.

Max was so close now.

But Chloe was focusing mostly successfully on the gun.

“Guns have a lot of parts, but … all you need to worry about for this one is two things. The hammer and the trigger. I’m … pretty sure you know where the trigger is.”

Max really didn’t know how to handle Chloe manipulating her body around like this but she wasn’t objecting.

She just breathed a bit more rapidly, since contact with anyone was pretty awkward, even if Chloe was pretty good at not caring.

She just tried to pay attention to Chloe’s lesson and not the way she smelled so strongly of smoke and weed.

“So … when you wanna shoot this thing … you gotta pull the hammer down … like this.”

Chloe manipulated Max’s thumb to moving a lever somewhere on the back of the gun until it made a slight mechanical clicking sound.

“… and now you’re good to pull the trigger and fire.”

Max blinked.

“It wouldn’t fire if I pulled the trigger before?”

Chloe snickered.

“Nah, it would. Just you would miss out on being cool and cocking the hammer.”

Chloe hesitated slightly.

“… It was cool, wasn't it?”

Max blinked again.

“Um … maybe a little.”

Chloe grinned and breathed simply into Max’s hair.

“Of course it was. Now … aim …”

Chloe removed her hands from Max’ to let her aim on her own but still watched from over her shoulder and _right_ behind her.

Chloe didn’t actually know what to do with her hands now so they just kinda awkwardly hovered somewhere around Max’s sides.

Max did as she was told, aiming at the bottle.

“… and fire.”

Max pulled the trigger and –

It was _loud_ \---

Max flinched wildly, but Chloe was anticipating this, which was the whole point of standing behind Max like this, and caught her by more firmly placing her hands on her sides to keep her from jumping too much.

She actually hit the bottle – not dead on, but she wasn’t too far away and the bottle shattered anyway.

Chloe cheered excitedly, bouncing a little on her feet, which was even more noticeable when so much of her was in contact with Max.

“Wooo! Gettem girl. Now you just gotta jump less when you shoot …”

Max just kept on blinking, totally overwhelmed by … everything …

Chloe’s hands on her body the gun the noise the bottle the _everything –_

But she felt like she could handle this so long as Chloe was around.

She closed her eyes, breathed in deeply, and nodded.

She put the gun down.

“O-okay. I’ll … try. Another one?”

 

Chloe grinned.

 

Max shot the rest of the bottles, and they worked farther and farther back.

Chloe was impressed at Max’s natural ability to aim.

She still flinched after every single shot and it was so cute.

She imagined Max was the kind of girl to still flinch whenever she took a sip of beer.

Or blush whenever sex was the topic of conversation.

 

After they shot six bottles, Chloe carefully tugged Max along onto the train tracks just ahead of them.

Max put the gun back into her pants by the waist.

Chloe stood on one of the train tracks and looked down at Max with a huge grin.

“Just like when we were kids …?”

Max smiled, and stepped on the tracks herself, on the rail opposite Chloe.

They held hands and balanced as they walked down the tracks.

 

“Told you you can be a badass if you try, Max …”

Chloe couldn’t really look over to Max since she was too busy balancing as she walked but she was trying to anyway.

Max had similar troubles walking and talking but she was trying, too.

“Yeah …”

It came out like a breathless sigh.

Chloe giggled.

“And … we can do that about everything. We can be a team again, Max … go on more adventures. See the world.”

Chloe suddenly cut herself off.

See the world.

No … she was going to see the world with Rachel.

Maybe them both?

Yeah.

She smiled.

Max giggled, too.

“I guess … I guess I can’t really say no to that, can I?”

Chloe smiled wider.

“Nah. You can’t. I’d kick your ass if you did.”

Max smiled, smiled, smiled.

“I’m shakin’ in my boots, Chloe …”

Chloe giggled.

“Speaking of, we should _totally_ get you some …”

Max hummed thoughtfully.

“Right after the pink hair dye?”

Chloe nodded.

“Right after the pink hair dye … you remembered.”

 

Max suddenly went tense, and Chloe could feel it in her hand.

She gave it a little affirming squeeze, and Max returned it.

 

“Chloe, this is … so awesome, but …”

Chloe blinked.

“But what?”

Max bit her lip.

“I … have something I want to tell you.”

Chloe blinked again.

“You can tell me anything, Max …”

Not that the phrase wasn’t ever not worrying, but …

“I …”

Max breathed in really deep, and suddenly stopped on the tracks.

She walked into the gravel in the center and tugged Chloe down here with her too.

She blinked, and looked up to Chloe.

She took Chloe’s second hand, looked away, looked down, and jittered and –

Chloe just blinked.

This sure was hard for her to say, whatever it was.

Finally, Max closed her eyes, tried to calm herself down, and looked up to Chloe.

“Chloe. I can control time.”

Suddenly, the color drained out of the world around them, and it became deathly silent.

Chloe blinked.

That was …

She grinned.

“Uhhh … y-yeah, and I’m the king of Spain, good one, M-max, you’re … funny …”

But she was feeling a little light headed all of the sudden.

Max bit her own lip.

“I’m being serious, Chloe. I just figured out I can pause time, too … it’s hard … but … try checking your phone.”

Chloe blinked, pulled one of her hands away to numbly pull out her phone.

Trying to wake it up from sleep didn’t do anything.

She couldn’t push down any of the buttons, it just simply refused.

What the fuck.

Chloe put the phone away and her hand was shaking and she just looked up and –

There were some fucking birds overhead just frozen in place and –

Chloe exhaled a shaky, uncertain breath, and looked down fearfully to Max.

She bounced on her boots nervously.

“… I … I need to lie down … and … I need to know everything, Max … the whole story.”

Max nodded, carefully, and the color suddenly returned to the world.

“… yeah. You deserve to know everything.”

Those fucking birds kept flying.

Chloe was totally speechless as Max led her back to the clubhouse.

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

If she was still a pussy, she probably would have just passed out.

Instead just … what?

Holy fuck.

Max was …

Goddamn.

Chloe didn’t have the words, for once.

She just awkwardly got tugged back to the clubhouse and tried to piece together what this all meant.

And watched Max’s hair.


	4. Try

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe tires to relax.
> 
> Max tries to soothe Chloe.
> 
> Chloe tries to soothe Frank, for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content notice: Sexual assault TW, Suicide TW

“I think I need a beer.”

Max released Chloe’s hand as they entered the club house and turned to face her.

Max’s face pitched up in obvious concern at Chloe’s wooziness and dazed stare.

“Chloe …”

But Chloe was good at faking entertainment when none existed and putting up a silly or brave face when she needed to, so despite feeling like she was probably about to pass out any second now, she just smiled, scoffed, and pushed her way past Max to flop down on the couch.

“Beer now. Bitching at me for being a drunk later.”

And crack a joke.

Max bit her lip, but she admired Chloe’s strength in hearing news like this.

And just in general, really.

It didn’t take her long to find where they kept the beer, though most of the bottles here were empty and randomly scattered throughout the place.

Chloe watched Max diligently find the beer with so, so, so many questions.

The brief quiet time to think wasn’t even enough to _begin_ to pick apart what this meant.

But Max was smiling gently when she returned with a bottle and sat down on the couch next to Chloe.

She still look concerned, but offered the bottle anyway, which made Chloe smile wildly.

She of course took it, and plopped her legs on the table in front of her, opening the beer can with an extension on her keychain and taking a sip in one smooth, very clearly practiced movement.

Chloe didn’t flinch when she drank beer.

She just made a content, satisfied exhale.

She closed her eyes, looked up to the ceiling, and melted more into the couch.

“Okay … so. I almost die yesterday, you come back into my life suddenly after five years, and … you have magic time powers, to boot. Cool.”

Max inched a bit closer, suspecting she might have to rub Chloe’s shoulder at various points of the conversation to come.

“You seem like you’re taking it pretty well.”

Chloe scoffed, and raised her free hand up to rub forcefully at her forehead and eyes.

“What’d you say earlier? ‘I’m putting one foot in front of the other’?”

Max smiled a little.

“Yeah …”

Chloe exhaled and lowered her head down to look plainly at Max.

She took another sip of her beer and started gently tapping at the couch with her free hand, some sort of automatic jittery pattern thing with her fingers.

“Yeah. Big mood. _So_. Spill it. How the fuck.”

Max shrugged.

“I only got them yesterday, when …”

Max tensed up and sighed.

“When Nathan shot you.”

Chloe blinked.

“Uhhhhh no he didn’t. You can pull up my shirt if you want ‘n check, Maxxie – no bullet holes. Yet.”

Chloe knew Max hated pet names, particularly her full name, but she didn’t care too much.

It didn’t get _that_ deep under her skin.

Max rolled her eyes.

“In this … universe. Or timeline. Or something. I don’t know. All I know is … I was in the bathroom, freaking out about that … photo stuff again, and … then I saw this blue butterfly.”

Chloe blinked.

Max was in the bathroom?

Shit, she didn’t finish checking, did she?

Damn, how differently would that scene have played out if she found Max right then and there?

Would she even want to pressure Nathan for money?

“Let me guess. It was at the far end.”

Max smiled, gently.

“Yeah. So … Nathan came in, and checked the stalls, but, not where I was, thankfully … um. He started talking to himself.”

Chloe blinked again.

“What did he say?”

Max sighed wearily.

“’You can do this.’ He just … kept repeating it.”

 Chloe looked off into the distance, away from Max, and took another sip.

She was starting to feel very slightly buzzed, which was making this conversation and the revelations a bit easier to cope with.

“Dude’s a basket case.”

Max bit her lip.

“He’s so mean, but … he’s clearly struggling with something.”

Chloe scoffed.

“Fuck him. Just some rich asshole who deserves nothing and yet the world gives him everything.”

Sip.

“Continue.”

Max sighed very gently at Chloe’s coldness, but she figured if Nathan tried to shoot her, instead of just intimidate her, she might feel differently about him.

“Then a little bit later, you came in, and … things got bad. He mentioned Rachel and you _freaked_ out, and … then he shot you.”

Chloe sighed.

Sounded like something she’d do.

“And I just – I got out of cover and I put my hand forward like ‘no!’ without even thinking and …”

Max frowned.

“Stuff … changed. Like we went backwards in time, all of the sudden. You popped right back up, Nathan went back to the sink …”

Max looked around.

“After … freaking out … I realized I had to stop that from happening. I had this killer headache but … I still saw …”

Chloe banged her head back against the couch and groaned.

“The fire alarm.”

Well, at least that explained the ridiculously convenient timing.

“Yeah. So that explains how I found out about my powers, but … I don’t know where they came from or … even all what I can do. Like I _just_ found out I can pause time and ---”

Chloe had a very sudden idea.

And it was … impossibly compelling.

She stiffened up unconsciously, and Max noticed.

They both looked to each other.

Chloe leaned forward, put the beer down on the table, and brought her hands together with her elbows resting harshly on her knees.

“… how far back can you go?”

Max shrugged.

“Uhm … maybe like, five minutes? Ten?”

Chloe frowned.

“How about six months?”

 

Quiet.

 

“Chloe …”

Chloe looked over to Max and her face was just –

Ugh.

So goddamn worried.

For some reason, that started to kick up Chloe’s anger.

“What?”

And her voice came out a little uneven.

Max bit her lip.

“I don’t think I can go back that far … I get such a headache from even going back a few minutes I can’t imagine ---”

Chloe scoffed and pulled out the photo from earlier that she’d shoved into her pockets.

The picture of her and Rachel kissing, from the night before she went missing.

She shoved it into Max’s hands and stood up.

“You _need_ to …”

Chloe’s voice was very uneven now, and she knew she was getting emotional, but … fuck it, Rachel.

“I … _need_ to see her again, Max. I don’t …”

She crossed her arms only to nervously uncross them and make an irritated gesture with her arms,

“… I don’t know _how_ or … _what_ … but … You need to go back to then … fucking text me for once … and tell me to keep Rachel away from Nathan.”

Max gaped her mouth and just awkwardly looked at the photo.

She knew Chloe was falling apart again, but tried to find a good time to interrupt it that wouldn’t just annoy her further, and make her blow up on Max again.

Chloe tightened her fists.

“I … I don’t know how. I don’t care how. I don’t fucking care. Just do it, Max! Bring her back! Use your fucking powers and …”

Chloe brought her hands up and then let them fall down to her thighs harshly.

She looked away, sighed wearily, then back to Max, trying to calm herself down at least a _little_ bit.

“Chloe … I can’t. I don’t know how I would even ---”

Chloe frowned.

Fuck that.

All she had to do was turn Max’s words against her.

Something she was fucking good at by now.

“ _Bullshit_! You didn’t know you could … fucking freeze time! Now look at you! Making those … b-birds just … ugh!”

Max realized what was happening immediately, and she looked up to Chloe, finally.

She didn’t look confused, or offended, or intimidated.

She looked sad.

Hurt.

“Chloe … why are you doing this to me? Why are you trying to hurt me? What did I do wrong?”

It took a few tries and rewinds to figure out the particular appeal that landed best on Chloe’s ears.

That …

Chloe wasn’t expecting.

It kind of took the breath out of her, and she just stared down at Max, still shaking and fizzy from her immediate anger, but that sort of piercing question just shot straight through her.

Why was she?

“I …”

She felt a lot of the anger drain away from her immediately, but unfortunately, that just left the sorrow.

She sniffled and whimpered, closing her eyes and looking down.

“I … Max … I need Rachel so badly … you don’t know …”

Max suddenly stood up, walked in front of Chloe, and put her hand on one of Chloe’s cheeks and the affection was just ---

Chloe opened her eyes and looked up from the floor to Max, not needing any more encouragement, but not happy that Max would see her so distraught with such tears in her eyes.

And she was raw.

Her eyes were red.

There were tears.

Max bit her lip and her face was drowning in concern, in sympathy.

“Chloe … I will do _everything_ … I can … to fix this. But I need you to _trust me_. And not … _fight_ me. I’m on _your side_.”

Fuck.

Chloe whimpered, and closed her eyes again.

She turned her face more into Max’s hand and unconsciously smelled her and the –

The mixture of gunpowder, slight sweat, and the immediate familiarity was just –

Chloe turned her body somewhat to pull away from Max’s hand, crossed an arm over her own chest, and brought one of her hands up to shield her face.

Max allowed Chloe the self-defense and gently lowered her hand.

“I know, Max … I know … I’m just … this worthless punk … fucking everything up again …”

Chloe looked away, and fully broke into tears, so utterly distraught at being so close to potentially saving Rachel yet probably so goddamn far away, again.

“Chloe, you’re _not_ a worthless punk. You made me feel good about myself in a way that like … not even my parents, or Jefferson could …”

 _Fuck_.

Chloe never remembered Max as having the right words to say in a conversation.

But it seemed to come so easily to Max, now.

Like she knew what Chloe was thinking, like she knew how she was going to resist, like she knew when Chloe was spiraling and needed to be affirmed.

Like she was Rachel.

Chloe only remembered one person who could resist their words being turned against them like that.

One person who could see through Chloe’s anger and understand the hurt.

And just …

Fuck.

Chloe had her few seconds of quiet undignified recomposing, and Max had learned by now to allow Chloe these moments, since them seemed necessary for her sanity.

Then, just, drained of everything, Chloe nodded gently, wiped away some tears even if it fucked up her eyeliner a bit, and plopped down on the couch, again.

She patted at the space next to her, and with a second or two of hesitation Max nodded and sat down next to her.

Chloe just collapsed into Max’s side when she did this, her head coming to rest on Max’s shoulder and burying her face somewhere in her clothes and just everything.

She was broken, but she could smell Max, and feel her warmth, and not feel so goddamn cold for once in six months.

Max took one of Chloe’s hands and squeezed it every so often.

“I’m sorry … Max …”

Max nodded.

“I know you are, Chloe …”

Squeeze.

Chloe returned it.

Despite Max being shorter than Chloe by a wide margin, it didn’t feel unnatural to melt into her side like this at all.

Mostly because Max was exactly the same size as Rachel.

Chloe already knew how to twist her body and bend in the right ways to brush her nose against Max’s neck and breathe against her skin.

Max shivered a little.

Chloe had never been so outwardly affectionate before, certainly not when they were kids.

But five years is a long time …

And Max quite liked feeling Chloe’s raggedy breathing on her neck, and her feeling her return the hand squeezing.

“I know this photo … means a lot to you. I’ll keep it if you want me to …”

And their voices were just so fragile now, but the moment was necessarily so.

Chloe nodded gently.

“I do … it’ll, um, give you something to work towards … I guess.”

Max nodded herself.

“Okay.”

She sort of awkwardly refolded it with just one hand, and earned a little amused snort from Chloe at the attempt, and she put into her jean’s pocket.

“Do we have any other leads … in the mean time?”

Chloe shrugged a little, and unmelted herself since talking into Max’s neck was inconvenient for an actual conversation.

She sat upright, but still very adjacent to Max, and very definitely still holding and squeezing her hand whenever Max did.

They looked to one another.

Chloe felt pretty put back together after that warmth from Max, and she didn’t even begin to unpack her feelings in how Max could comfort her like this.

Like Rachel could.

They had something else to talk about, anyway.

“Nothing groundbreaking. My only real lead is Nathan.”

Max blinked.

“What’s up with you and Nathan?”

Chloe frowned.

“He’s … ugh.”

She looked away, and when Max squeezed her hand, relaxed somewhat.

“Okay, so … Nathan and I, believe it or not, used to be chill. He was … different, years back. I know he’s basically an irredeemable … _prick_ … now, but …”

Heavy exhale.

Chloe closed her eyes.

“He wasn’t always like that. Rachel liked hanging out with him, and Rachel could make him smile and laugh for once in his fucking life, so … whatever. Then just … one day, she goes to visit him, and he … I don’t know. He abducted her, or something. She never returned after that.”

Max blinked.

“I thought you said no one knew what happened.”

Chloe nodded barely.

“I don’t know … for _certain_ … but I’m pretty fucking sure that’s what happened.”

Max made a thoughtful sound.

“How? What proof do you have?”

Chloe scoffed.

“Because the dumbass tried to do whatever he did on Rachel on me, and it didn’t fucking work. He didn’t use enough of the stuff, or something, so I wake up to him …. F-fucking un ... dressing me, so I j-just … kicked him in the dick and ... ran off.”

Max went deathly still at the news, and suddenly felt very awful for asking for how Chloe knew.

That must have really sucked to think about … it certainly sounded like it did ... and what if Chloe didn’t trust her as much as she did? Would she even tell her?

Oh god, Kate.

Things suddenly clicked into place for Max in a very quietly-horrifying way, but she still reciprocated when Chloe squeezed her hand.

“Um … not gonna lie, Max, pretty bad time to go quiet.”

Max sighed but did smile very slightly at Chloe’s ability to be so fucking invincible she could crack a joke after telling her she almost got raped.

“S-sorry, Chloe. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. It sounds … awful. I was just … thinking. Kate said she thought Nathan did something to her … when I asked her how she knew and ... what proof she had, she just kind of … froze up on me, and didn’t answer.”

Chloe slapped her hand on her thigh and grunted.

Max blinked.

“That fucker. He’s _definitely_ connected to this shit, somehow …"

Something then noticeably clicked in Chloe's head.

"Wait, she froze up on you? She didn't answer?”

Max frowned, slightly.

“It just … seemed like a serious accusation … I just wanted to find a little proof.”

Chloe blinked for a few seconds, and carefully looked over to Max.

“You didn’t believe her?”

Max frowned more deeply.

“I believed her. I just …”

Chloe frowned herself.

“Well. _I_ believe her. Whatever she thinks Nathan did to her I’m proof-positive he did. We need to take him down, Max. Then we’ll find Rachel. I know it.”

Max went quiet in a moment of self-reflection in how she handled the situation with Kate.

“… can you come with me when I talk to her next?”

Chloe blinked, and evened out her expression.

“Uhm … I’m not exactly a people person, Max.”

Max smiled just barely.

“I think … I think it’ll really help her to hear you trust her unconditionally, though.”

Chloe scoffed, playfully.

“I … don’t really help people, Max. That’s not really my style.”

Max smiled wider, and buried her face in Chloe’s neck, instead of the other way around.

She squeezed Chloe’s hand.

Chloe returned it, even if she was somewhat confused at sudden affection, and looked forward.

“You helped me. With … being a badass, and knowing to trust Kate, and … you’re helping me a lot, Chloe. Whether or not you realize it.”

Fuck.

That was …

Chloe blinked.

She was blushing, now.

There was no more avoiding the fact that she felt _really_ good when she made Max feel better about herself.

And when she sounded so obviously endeared to that …

Fuck.

Chloe knew what this was.

She cared for Max.

She was getting attached.

Max was helping her when she was weak, going along with whatever Chloe wanted to do, and cared for her when she was so obviously wounded and damaged.

She was a time-controlling badass, even if she didn’t fully know it yet.

She could probably do whatever she wanted to, if she put her mind to it.

But …

Fuck.

Was this crushing?

Was she falling for Max?

While being in a relationship with another woman?

No, just …

It’d been months since Chloe had a real relationship with anyone else.

These … feelings were probably just the fire from unused circuits in her brain being reactivated for once.

Rachel would understand if Chloe was slightly affectionate towards Max, anyway.

Max was cute, and Rachel was just a super affectionate person to begin with.

She might even think it was cute herself.

Chloe could almost picture it in her head …

Rachel popping up, telling her ‘Oh? Is there any space left for me in this little cuddle pile of yours?’

And Chloe would go ---

 

“Chloe. Frank’s coming.”

 

… No, what, that’s ---

Chloe blinked her eyes open to see Max suddenly – confusingly – standing up in front of her.

She was breathing harshly, though, hunched over slightly and holding her chest.

Her nose was bleeding, and her other hand was obviously rubbing at her forehead.

“Holy shit dude are you okay ---”

The instinct came before the thought, and Chloe didn’t hesitate anymore.

She stood right up and moved to offer Max her support, so she didn’t have to hold her own weight up.

“--- Chloe, no time to talk, we ---”

“--- Shhh.”

Chloe maneuvered the worryingly-aching Max onto the couch, and Max just groaned harshly, slapping at Chloe’s thigh.

“Stop it! We … _ughnnnnnn_.”

Max made this horribly pained sound, and brought both of her hands up to her face to tightly shield it.

Chloe watched her, so fucking confused –

Oh.

Time travel.

Right.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Chloe looked worriedly at Max while Max brought her hands down from her face, still breathing so harshly.

“You need to … calm down. He’s going to … get under your skin but you can’t …”

Chloe frowned.

“What? Fuck him, Max, he’s just some ---”

Max’s eyes had a fire in them Chloe hadn’t seen since ---

“ ** _Chloe_**.”

Like a dog that had just been caught doing something naughty, Chloe looked away from Max and rubbed at the back of her own neck.

“Listen. I don’t … have the time to convince you … just … _listen_ to me. He’s going to come in … and talk about Rachel …”

Chloe stiffened unconsciously.

“… and your debt.”

She stiffened some _more_.

“… you … _have_ to keep a cool head … if you flip on him … or do that … being-difficult … thing you do … he’ll stab you.”

Chloe’s eyes went wide.

Frank wouldn’t …

They used to be so close …

But …

Three years is a long time.

Max continued on.

“… and I’m _not_ … not … letting you get stabbed … so … play nice. Please. _For me_.”

Chloe took a second or two to process.

“Max, I …”

But when she looked over to her, Max had passed out, and was resting limply on the couch.

Fuck.

She looked so pained … she didn’t even find peace in sleep – her face was still scrunched up, her nose still had a blood trail coming from it, she ---

Someone entered into the clubhouse, and Chloe didn’t hesitate anymore.

She took the gun from Max’s waist and cocked it and stood up and turned to face whoever it was, but kept the gun pointed down, for now.

 

Frank, of course.

 

Chloe’s free hand unconsciously tightened.

Frank looked to her, and the gun, then past her, to Max, then back to her.

“Lookit you. Think you’re so tough just because you got a gun.”

In literally any other scenario, this dickweed would be getting a face full of her attitude.

They used to be so close, and Rachel used to be so close to him too, but, things got tense after Rachel disappeared.

And now she owed him _a lot_ of money, and both of them knew she didn’t have the means to repay.

So there were months of tense, angry conversations, and entirely too much bad blood between them for her to consider anything else.

But …

Max.

Chloe looked back to Max, then back to Frank.

She put the gun in her own waist line and crossed her arms, breathing a heavy sigh.

She could try.

For Max.

“I don’t have your money, Frank. Not yet.”

He scoffed.

“Just ask your new _girlfriend_ for it.”

He looked past her to Max again, and Chloe tightened her fists.

“Couldn’t even wait for Rachel’s body to get cold, eh? Tsk, tsk.”

Chloe almost made her palm bleed from her nails digging in so much.

Fucking no one talked about Rachel that way.

No one.

Not even someone that might stab her.

Chloe didn’t care if she got stabbed.

She was just some –

 

She wasn’t.

 

She wasn’t a worthless punk.

Max cared for her.

Too much.

Chloe had some worth even just in that.

Max even put so much burden on herself to avoid Chloe getting stabbed …

Fuck.

Chloe couldn’t fuck this up, even if this dicknose deserved her attitude.

She didn't want to even think about how it would hurt Max if she got hurt here.

She had to try.

 

For once.

 

Chloe kept her voice as even and calm as she could, and tried to still her body.

“We’re working on it. I’ll have it to you by Friday.”

She breathed a bit easier.

Frank blinked, and made an amused scoff.

“ _Damn_ , thought for sure that’d tick you off.”

Chloe frowned.

Asshole.

He crossed his own arms, still amused.

“And what makes you think I’ll believe you’ll have the money then, anyway?”

Chloe shrugged.

“We’ll figure something out. Together. Her ---"

Chloe looked back to Max,

"--- family has money, I think.”

She looked to Frank.

"If not --- I'm resourceful. When I want to be. You know that."

Fuck.

It felt so …

Weird.

Not the lying, that was automatic and thoughtless and Chloe didn’t spare it a second thought.

Just … everything else.

Weird.

Being calm and trying to resolve this with logic and words instead of intimidation and attitude.

Frank made a flat unapproving sound.

“I’ve already waited some months. You gotta think I’m stupid or something.”

While Chloe kinda did, that wasn’t the point.

She just shrugged again.

All she had to do was listen, and use their words against them.

“No. I ‘gotta’ think you’re willing to give me another chance because we’ve known each other for so fucking long and … we used to be so close and … you don’t want to do this to me, really. That’s not stupid. That just means you have a fucking heart.”

Frank closed his eyes and had a deep, heavy, pained sigh.

“I can’t let business and pleasure mix, Chloe. You know that. The last time …”

That was bringing up _old_ memories, damn.

Chloe didn’t want to think about that, but she at least knew what to say, here.

Chloe sighed wearily herself and closed her eyes.

“I’m not another Damon, Frank.”

She opened her eyes, totally calm now, somehow.

Frank uncrossed his arms, looked past Chloe to Max, then back to her.

“Coulda fooled me for a few months there … alright. Fine. Until Friday.”

He turned to leave the clubhouse, but hesitated, and placed one of his hands on the door frame.

He looked back to Chloe.

“Whatever’s gotten into you is good, Chloe. I … thought you were gone … forever … after Rachel … d-disappeared.”

Chloe sighed, and collapsed onto the couch.

“I thought so, too.”

Frank just had his amused sound and shoved off the door frame, walking away.

 

Fuck.

 

Chloe had so … so, so much to think about.

That interaction with Frank was …

It reminded her of a time in her life she wanted to forget, but –

She hadn’t known Frank to be lenient in months.

Or compliment her, for that matter.

 

Fuck.

 

Chloe looked over to the passed out Max, and gently ran some fingers through her hair, hoping it’d help her to sleep a bit easier.

Then, she got a devious idea, and with a grin, put her boots up on the table, and carefully maneuvered Max so she was laying on her back, and so her head was in Chloe’s lap, looking up at her.

Chloe started another cigarette – since she fucking needed it after this crazy-fucking-ass day – and used her free hand to just pet at Max’s hair.

 

Thinking about everything, and nothing, all at once.

 

\---

 

Kate carefully started to write her note.

 

Nothing in her life was working out, anymore.

 

Max didn’t believe her. She didn’t answer her calls.

 

She had no one.

 

And nothing.

 

She was really, well and truly, alone in the world, totally helpless and hopeless.

 

A pathetic whore.

 

Who deserved to die.

 

_To my friends and family, I’m deeply sorry …_


	5. Oblivious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe is oblivious to her feelings.
> 
> Max is oblivious to Chloe's moves.
> 
> Taylor is oblivious to Nathan's danger.

Max woke up to a very delicate scene, although she arrived at it painfully, with a pathetic shuddering gasping whimper.

She almost sat up but –

Someone’s hand was on her forehead, gently keeping her from too much movement.

Max’s eyes shot open wide and she was already breathing too fast but she –

Chloe.

Oh.

Chloe was just relaxed back on the couch, and Max was … in her lap?

Chloe’s casual intimacy was something Max still needed to get used to, but …

This was probably the best way she could have woken up.

So immediately feeling comforted.

With a harsh exhale Max relaxed, melting in the position and just trying to calm her breathing.

But she didn’t forget her nightmares, and she didn’t forget Chloe getting stabbed.

So many times.

Chloe patted at Max’s head.

Poor girl looked like she was going through a lot without even saying any words in elaboration, and …

That was all Chloe’s fault.

Fuck.

If Chloe wasn’t such an asshole, Max wouldn’t have had to try so hard to keep her from getting stabbed …

Weird thoughts.

She moved her hand back to Max’s hair after she chilled a bit.

“Shhh. Hey there, sleeping beauty.”

The flirt came so completely automatically that it surprised Chloe a little, and she hushed herself to avoid saying anything more.

Max just blushed some, which was still so cute, and had another harsh exhale.

She closed her eyes.

“I’m not sleeping or a beauty … _ugh_. My head … is splitting in two.”

Chloe rolled her eyes at Max’s lack of confidence, but nodded at her words.

“Yeah. It looked like it took a lot out of you to do that …”

Max nodded slowly.

“It’s usually not … that bad. If I just … rewind a few seconds, or something. But I … had to do a lot.”

Chloe scoffed.

“I’m not surprised. I’m kind of an asshole, in case you haven’t noticed.”

Max smiled, barely.

“Kind of, yeah … how’d things … work out?”

Chloe shrugged.

“Well. No stab wounds, so, that’s a plus. I need to pay him back by Friday, and I have no fucking clue where I’m going to get the money.”

Max went quiet in consideration.

“You talked him down peacefully?”

Chloe shrugged again.

“Wouldn’t call it peaceful, it was tense. I wanted to punch him in the fucking face so bad for what he said about Rachel being dead … but … ugh.”

Max smiled a bit more.

“Are you telling me you had some self-control?”

Chloe laughed at Max’s delivery and shook her head.

“I know, right? What a strange goddamn concept.”

Max just smiled, smiled, smiled, and finally opened her eyes again to look up at Chloe.

“But I knew you could do it … if you just tried.”

Chloe blushed somewhat, but thankfully, wasn’t looking down to Max, so she wouldn’t see it so much.

“I uhm. During the … scary conversations, heard some stuff. You two have … history?”

Chloe shrugged and tried to calm her cheeks since _seriously_ \---

“Yeah I mean. Some. We’ve known each other for … god, three years. For a while he was like … I don’t know, a dad to me. He’d vouch for us sometimes when we got in trouble, or stop us from doing something really incredibly stupid …”

She sighed more wearily.

“… used his connections to get us a sweet deal on tats … taught me some stuff, like how to shoot a gun properly, how to pick locks …”

She just kind of trailed off, since it was nice to think about the period of time where nothing hurt and everything felt like it was working out.

Max bit her lip.

“He was so … hostile … and angry … and … scary … what happened? I can’t believe you could be so close and …”

Chloe grunted.

“I’m an asshole, what can I say? After Rachel was kidnapped, I just … stopped caring if he liked me or not. I borrowed lots of money to keep sustaining the search for her and … things just changed between us. I don’t know.”

Max went quiet in consideration.

Quiet.

Rachel’s disappearance had changed so, so much …

She wondered what Chloe was like before she went away.

She must have been a totally different person.

Especially around Rachel.

Joyce said things were as good as they had ever been with Rachel around, and the more Max learned about stuff, the sharper the focus of that statement was.

They really needed to find Rachel.

But …

What were the odds she was still alive?

And if she was, what were the odds she still wanted to be in touch with Chloe?

What if Chloe simply cared more for her than she did for Chloe?

How badly would finding out about that break her?

Poor Chloe …

It seemed like any outcome when they found Rachel would hurt her, somehow, someway …

“… what were you like around Rachel?”

Chloe stiffened a little, and Max considered rewinding.

“… not an asshole.”

She sighed.

“It was … kind of like this, actually. We’d just chill and talk about … life, and stuff. We made lots of jokes, kissed a lot, had a lot of sex … and talked. About anything. Everything.”

Max nodded carefully, blushing only barely this time at the mention of sex, and let the quiet that followed hang in the air for a bit.

Chloe didn’t know how to feel about Max talking to her about Rachel.

She didn’t know how to feel about a lot of Max, actually.

The fact her instinct was to put Max in Rachel’s favorite position wasn’t lost on her.

Neither was how easily Max slotted herself back into the part of her life that Rachel occupied.

Well, almost, anyway.

Chloe shook her head, since she kinda didn’t want to think about this now.

Weird thoughts.

“Anyway. Enough feelsy shit. I’ll take you back to campus now and I’ll think of some way to get the money and ---”

Max effortlessly stole one of Chloe’s hands, intertwined the fingers, and squeezed it tightly.

Chloe went quiet and looked down to Max.

“ _We’ll_ think of some way to get the money. We’re a team, right?”

Chloe opened her mouth, gaping slightly, and … damn.

That felt so nice to hear.

After a second or two too long, she grinned playfully.

“You’re right, Max … if you have the time, I guess.”

Max smiled.

“I always have the time for you, Chloe.”

… damn.

Chloe blushed again, and looked away from Max.

Was Max into her?

That certainly fucking sounded like it.

But she didn’t really respond to the flirting …

Which was a good thing, anyway, because of Rachel, right?

Ugh, Christ, this was so confusing.

Chloe felt impossibly conflicted between her desire to stay true to Rachel – her entire purpose in life – and to reconnect as much as she could with Max.

This … energy between them didn’t feel quite like friendship.

Maybe they just didn’t have to label it.

Maybe Chloe would flirt a little bit more and see where it took them.

Rachel would understand, right?

Six months is a long time …

Or … maybe she’d just stop whatever was going on with Max when they found Rachel?

If … _if_ they found Rachel.

Ugh.

 

 “I made _you_ blush for once.”

 

Chloe blinked and scoffed, looking down to Max, who just looked so fucking cutely smug and ---

“Oh my god you _bitch_ you were _trying_ \---”

The two of them exploded into helpless, playful giggles.

And Chloe put the weird, confusing thoughts out of her head.

She just enjoyed Max’s company.

 

Some time later, they drove back to Blackwell.

Chloe pulled up and parked the truck.

Max complained until she parked correctly.

It was whatever.

Cute that she still cared about that pointless stuff.

Chloe put the gun back in the glove compartment with a small sigh.

“David might actually kill me if he sees me with this … on campus no less. Like no joke actually kill me.”

Max made a thoughtful sound.

“What about the switchblade?”

Chloe blinked.

“Um … probably wouldn’t be too happy either. But I want _some_ kind of defense against Nathan.”

Max hesitated, but nodded.

She kind of did, too.

She felt pretty safe around Chloe, but … who knows what Nathan could do.

Especially knowing what Max did about what he did to Chloe …

“Okay. Just no stabbing anyone.”

Chloe scoffed.

“No promises.”

Max smiled, just slightly.

“So what’s the plan, then, Mad Max? I crash in your room while you finish your classes and then we push Nathan for more info?”

Max sighed.

“I don’t think Nathan will tell us anything … can you check his room while I’m in class?”

Chloe went quiet, and looked forward, away from Max.

“Um. I kinda … don’t want to be in there, alone, Max.”

Quiet.

Oh.

Fuck.

Right.

Max really needed to be more cognizant of this stuff …

She quickly nodded.

“S-sorry for reminding you of that. Maybe I can skip one more class and we can visit it together?”

Chloe sighed.

“It’s alright. I don’t think we’ll find much in there, but … yeah, sure.”

Chloe cleared her throat and looked back to Max with a grin.

“I’m noticing you have zero issues snooping in someone’s dorm room.”

Max gaped her mouth for a few seconds.

She blushed.

“I … for Rachel, we ---”

Chloe grinned wider.

“--- It’s chill. We’re probably going to have to do some daaaaark fuckin’ magic to get this money, so … I’m glad you’re okay with some stuff.”

Chloe looked forward.

“’sides. It reminds me of young you. Always snooping in my damn room.”

Max finally had the presence of mind to close her mouth.

“It doesn’t sound like you minded …”

Chloe scoffed.

“Nah. If you wanna touch my junk, go right ahead.”

This was … very particularly phrased, and Chloe looked sidelong at Max to analyze her reaction.

Max just rolled her eyes.

“Yeah. We should … probably talk to Kate, too.”

Damn. It flew right over Max’s head.

Oh well.

That was a little subtle.

For Chloe, anyway.

She nodded.

“Yeah, sure. Dunno if she’ll want to talk to me, though …”

Max made a thoughtful sound.

“You _do_ look kinda scary. Do you have any other clothes?”

Chloe scoffed.

“Are you trying to de-punk-ify me, Max?”

Max just smiled.

“Yes, that’s _exactly_ what I’m doing.”

Chloe smiled, too.

“Good. I like it when you’re a little bossy, Max.”

There we go.

That wasn’t subtle at all.

Max just rolled her eyes again and got out of the truck.

“Come on.”

Damn.

That went right over Max’s head, too.

Whatever.

Chloe scoffed again and got out of the truck herself, walking around to the back.

Max kinda did actually have a point.

Chloe didn’t know Kate that well, but she seemed so soft.

If they were going to talk, she could do with being … slightly less intimidating.

She often kept Rachel’s flannel in the back of her truck for such an occasion, and thoughtlessly stripped off her jacket to switch into it.

She took off her beanie, too, since it didn’t really go with the red of the flannel.

Max came around back with her and watched her change.

Rather unsubtly.

When she finished, Chloe walked in front of Max and extended her arms up on either side of her body.

“Happy, hipster? Now I just look gay instead of punk.”

Max looked down and up Chloe, and made a thoughtful sound.

“The skull shirt is a little much … but yeah, that should be better.”

Chloe scoffed and crossed her arms.

“Are you asking me to take off my shirt, Max?”

Max just rolled her eyes.

“You dork. Let’s go.”

Damn it.

That was the least subtle yet and Max still wasn’t registering it as anything other than playful banter.

 

… should she?

 

Max knew what Rachel was to her …

Ugh.

Whatever.

Maybe this was fine as-is.

She could be flirty with Max without her reading too much into it and get affection when she needed it.

Hard to label what the fuck kind of relationship that was, though.

Super friends?

Cuddle buddies?

… make out partners?

Ugh.

The two of them walked onto campus and Chloe was pensive.

At least it was lunch time now, so it wasn’t too unusual for them to be outside of a class room, and there were plenty of students around.

 

Including …

“Heeeyyyy, Mad Max!”

Chloe frowned, immediately kicked out of her thoughts.

That was her pet name for Max, goddamn it.

She crossed her arms while this dude --- Warren --- with a wicked shiner came up to the two of them in one of the halls.

But she held her tongue.

Max smiled, barely.

“Hey, Warren. How’s it going?”

Warren looked between the two of them, and Chloe stepped just a bit closer to Max.

“I mean, I can’t feel half of my face and haven’t seen you all day, but I’m good.”

Haven’t seen her all day?

What?

They weren’t …?

Chloe looked to Max, and Max sighed gently.

“I can’t believe Nathan did that to you. I’m … so sorry, Warren.”

Warren shrugged.

“It’s cool. Not your fault he’s a weapons-grade asshole. You still up for the movie?”

Max hesitated.

No bitch, she wasn’t.

She had things to do, now.

“Warren I ---”

Chloe looked to Warren.

“--- We’re doing things. Together. Together things. With each other. And not you. Sorry, buddy.”

Max spared a brief helpless look back to Chloe, then back to Warren.

Warren blinked.

“O-oh. Is that true, Max?”

Max rubbed at her arm.

“… yeah, I guess.”

Chloe pointedly took Max’s free hand and squeezed it.

It made Max comfortable enough to just exhale easily and look plainly at Warren.

“Sorry, Warren. I wasn’t planning on any of this. It just … kinda happened.”

Warren shrugged again.

“It’s cool. I get it. She’s kinda hot.”

Chloe frowned.

How little did she care that Warren thought she was attractive?

Go away, already.

Max made a scoffing sound, but was amused.

“It’s not … _that_.”

Chloe made an unimpressed sound.

“I have a really nice personality, you see.”

Warren laughed, and it took him a few seconds to realize he probably shouldn’t laugh so earnestly at that, so he just kind of awkwardly silenced himself, looked away, and rubbed at the back of his neck.

“… yeah. Okay. It’s cool, Max. We’ll … reschedule? Next week? Month?”

Max bit her lip, and Chloe groaned, taking her hand away from Max to cross her arms.

She stepped in front of her, between the two of them.

“Just beat it, dude. If she wants to hang, she’ll let you know.”

Warren blinked uneasily up at Chloe, and laughed nervously.

“Uh … right. Your girlfriend’s kinda scary, Max. I’ll … catch you later.”

Chloe felt like objecting to the girlfriend characterization, but honestly, she just wanted him gone, and didn’t want to give him anything else to respond to.

He was reminding her a bit too much of someone she didn’t want to be reminded of.

Warren got away a bit too quickly – finally – and Max sighed, walking to Chloe’s side to place a hand on her shoulder.

“You don’t have to be so mean to him …”

Chloe scoffed, and watched him go, before turning to face Max.

Max brought her hands down, and Chloe uncrossed her arms.

“You have to be careful with dudes like that, Max. Ones that always want more of your time. Next thing you know they have this warped view of what your relationship actually is and it sucks to try and detach from it without hurting him.”

Max blinked.

“You … sound like you already went through this.”

Chloe sighed, and looked up to the ceiling for a bit.

In the hallways was sort of a weird place to have this conversation, but the idle chit-chat and commotion around them kept the conversation mostly private.

 She looked back down.

“Yeah. I went through a boy phase. Had some … choice encounters. But boys are gross and stinky and stupid.”

Max blinked.

“And girls aren’t?”

Chloe laughed.

“Some are. But least they don’t give you cooties when you kiss them.”

She winked, but Max just made an amused sound and closed her eyes.

“Boys don’t have cooties either, Chloe. That’s just dumb kid stuff.”

Ughhh, Max was so oblivious.

But cute.

 

“Whatever. Let’s get some food. I’m starving.”

 

Max opened her eyes and smiled.

They turned to leave, and Chloe noticed Taylor had saw the exchange between them and had this stupid grin plastered on her face as they walked by.

She wondered how much she heard …

Chloe really didn’t want it going around that Max was her girlfriend.

She was Rachel’s girlfriend.

If Rachel heard that, Max would be so fucked.

And not in the good way.

She’d text Warren later and tell him to chill with that crap.

And Maybe see what Taylor knew.

 

Lunch was fairly uneventful.

Chloe still ate way faster than Max, and it still resulted in her having nothing to do but stare at Max while she more carefully ate her food.

At least she had the time now to text Warren.

It was crazy to think how many people were only in her phone because of Rachel …

_we're not girlfriends btw_

Max smiled, seeing Chloe talk to someone else for a change, and ate a little bit more at ease.

_what_

Chloe blinked.

_max and I. we’re not dating_

She rested her head on one of her hands with her elbow on the table they were sitting at.

_are you sure??_

Chloe rolled her eyes.

_just don’t tell anyone, dude_

“Who’s that?”

Chloe blinked and looked up from her phone.

“Warren.”

Max made a thoughtful sound.

“You’re not … being mean to him, are you?”

Chloe sighed.

“No, Max. I’m just telling him we’re not girlfriends.”

Max nodded.

“Oh. He wasn’t being serious, I don’t think …”

Of course Max would think that.

It put a slight smile on her face as she looked back down to her phone.

 _ok_.

 

Well, that was easy.

Now for Taylor.

_what did you see_

A response came back way too quickly.

_Who dis???_

Chloe frowned.

_chloe_

Again, the response was instant.

_Um how did you get my number??_

Always with the question marks. Ugh.

_how do you think. rachel gave it to me. answer the question_

Chloe spared the occasional glances at Max while she ate, pretending to not find it cute how carefully she ate her food.

_Um well I see a lot of things C_

Did she just fucking shorten her name to ‘C’?

_But I saw you bitching out Warren and like go girl he gives me the creeps he’s into murder movies or some weird psycho shit like that_

Gossiping.

Chloe was gossiping, now.

That fact wasn’t lost on her.

For a strictly utilitarian reason, but, still.

_yeah. I don’t like fuckbois. did you hear anything_

This might actually work out if …

_No it was too loud I just saw you get in front of him and lean in and it looked like you were about to punch him and oml_

Chloe blinked.

That wasn’t how it happened, was it?

She didn’t _lean_ towards him …

… maybe a little.

Shit, some of the intimidating stuff was so automatic now.

She didn’t even realize she was doing it.

_I woulda but max would be hella mad at me. probably. nathan already beat me to the punch anyway heh_

Chloe smirked.

Heh.

_Oml do you know why he did that???_

Question marks.

_other than him being a fucking psycho? no. ask max, she seemed to know more_

This response came much more slowly than the others.

Chloe imagined she retyped it a few times.

_Ummmm Nathan is ok. You used to be his friend idk what happened_

Chloe sighed.

_rachel fucking disappearing happened_

This response took even _longer_.

_oh_

Oh.

So simple, yet, poignant.

Oh.

What else is there to say, anyway.

Taylor was kind of alright, she figured.

For a Vortex Club asshole, anyway.

Chloe put her phone away, done with gossiping and dealing with fuckbois, and just watched Max some more.

 

They didn’t see Kate at lunch.

Max told her she was eating in her room, these days.

Chloe considered texting Kate, but …

Max said she kept her phone off most of the day, especially during school hours.

She wasn’t the kind of girl to use her phone in class.

Of course.

 

Afterwards, Max skipped class with Chloe to go to Nathan’s room.

Chloe _definitely_ wasn’t a good influence.

She just hoped Max didn’t get the book thrown at her like Chloe did when she skipped.

Wells just had a hate boner for her in particular.

Max was probably fine.

Nathan’s room was locked but Chloe picked it since the locks around here were garbage anyway.

Inside was … wrong.

Chloe always felt wrong and uncomfortable in his room, these days.

Like every one of the pictures on his walls were watching her, judging her.

And these were some fucked-up pictures, too.

Black and white shots of women, some in fucking bondage, all of them looking fucking terrified.

Goddamn.

Sometimes Chloe wondered how the fuck she didn’t realize how bad Nathan was getting until he almost fucking shot her.

Maybe she just didn’t care to even pay that much attention.

Max snooped, because what else would she do in someone else’s room, and Chloe walked to the center of it, still feeling weird and uncomfortable.

This just …

Wasn’t right.

She’d been in boy’s rooms before, and they were nothing like this.

Boys had messy rooms that smelled like ass and cheap body spray.

 _Everything_ in this room was _perfect_ and carefully placed.

Even his bed was made exquisitely.

How much fucking time did it take to do that?

Chloe suddenly didn’t want to think about his fucking bed, and looked over to Max.

“Find anything yet, snoopy?”

Max scoffed.

“Um … he has a picture of me.”

Chloe blinked.

“He _what_?”

She walked right the fuck over to Max and plucked the picture out of Max’s hand.

Holy god above this was a cute picture of Max.

This must have been like the first time she had her hair in that mophead style she always wore … it looked so outrageously big on then.

“Where did he get this?”

Max frowned.

“He probably broke into my room …”

Ugh.

Fucking psycho.

“I am _so_ going to kill this dude … later … let’s keep looking.”

They looked around some more.

The pictures never stopped watching Chloe and making her skin crawl, but at least Max didn’t seem to be too uncomfortable.

Nathan had one of those expensive laptops and took it with him so there wasn’t any computer to search, and he probably had fancy security on it anyway.

Only when Max moved one of his trash cans – seriously Max, even the trash? – did they find even something amiss.

What looked like claw marks, going behind his dresser.

Holy shit.

Chloe could never tolerate being in here long enough to snoop this badly …

Maybe she should have just fucking tried.

They moved the dresser and –

“Jesus.”

Those were definitely marks on his wall, and they looked desperate.

Someone was doing _whatever_ they could, here.

“What do you think it means …?”

Chloe frowned.

“That I’m right. I bet you a million bucks that’s someone’s finger nails trying to hold on to _something_ as they’re being dragged away.”

Max shuddered.

“Oh my god. I think I’m going to be sick …”

Chloe placed her hand on Max’s shoulder and rubbed affectionately to try and comfort her.

Even if there really was nothing to be comforted by, right now.

They were looking at the only evidence of a fucking crime.

They looked around some more, and Max --- seriously --- took some stuff out of his garbage, some crumbled pieces of paper, that looked interesting.

Well, interesting was one word.

“Jesus.”

Max said it, this time, and it was quite appropriate.

To see Nathan’s demented drawings and writing was … something else entirely.

It took the breath out of Chloe to look at it.

_no double dose no double dose no double dose no double dose no double dose_

An entire _fucking_ page was filled with just this.

 

Somehow, the next page was even worse than the last.

Nathan drew the storm in Chloe’s nightmares in horrifying relief.

And he captioned it

 

_purge my fucking sins, Rachel_

 

Chloe _fucking_ knew it.

 

“Oh my god … the storm. He saw it too?”

Chloe just stole the paper from Max’s hands and almost tore it up out of her anger, but it was like the one piece of maybe evidence she had against him.

“Neverfuckingmind the storm! He says Rachel! Right there! He’s the one who fucking took my heaven away!”

Chloe’s voice was suddenly too loud, and Max looked around, concerned.

“We should probably leave …”

Chloe groaned painfully and folded up the piece of paper to shove it in her pockets.

“No we’re ---  we’re fucking sitting right here until this piece of _shit_ comes back and ---”

Max took Chloe’s hand and squeezed it tightly

“ ** _Chloe_**. What if he has a gun again … ? I _can’t_ watch you get almost shot again.”

That …

Chloe didn’t know how to handle that.

Her recklessness had a price, again.

She took her free hand up and rubbed at her forehead with a deep, pained sigh.

After a few seconds,

“I … you’re right, Max. Let’s leave. We’ll … figure out what we can do with this stuff. Maybe he’ll talk with this fucking picture being shoved in his face …”

They tried to place everything back in his room as it was, and left the boy’s dorm, before they over stayed their welcome.

 

Max only had one class left, and that was photography, which Kate was in, so Max decided to go there.

Max gave Chloe the key to her dorm and said she didn’t feel very safe going there anymore if Nathan could just get in whenever he wanted.

Chloe was kind of glad she was the first one to see all of the deranged shit Nathan did to Max’s room …

She didn’t want Max to feel scared.

And this was fucking scary.

Fucking severed doll heads, he trashed all of her photos, ransacked the room …

There was this weird odor everywhere, too.

Fuck.

For some reason Chloe decided to take her phone out and take a picture of it and send it to Taylor.

_yeah Nathan is totally fine and not a deranged psycho_

She didn’t get a response back.

Chloe wasn’t very good at cleaning, but she did her best to restore Max’s room to the order she thought it was in before Nathan fucked everything up.

 

God, damn, Nathan.

 

When she was done, and crashing on Max’s bed, she looked at Nathan’s crumpled up drawing of the storm.

The storm.

_purge my fucking sins, Rachel_

Despite the visceral _anger_ she felt just thinking about what Nathan must have fucking done to her perfect angel …

She wondered why multiple people were dreaming about this thing.

Max too, apparently?

She’d have to talk about this with Max …

Arcadia Bay had some weird shit happen in it, sometimes.

A localized apocalypse, though?

Maybe that’s what this fucking town needed.

Something that just leveled the whole place.

Burned it down.

Purged the sins.

Of demented little boys who think they can play god and abuse women.

Ugh.

 

Chloe folded the piece of paper back up and slept on Max’s bed.

She didn’t want to dream of storms, but she had a dreadful feeling she would, anyway.

Maybe they would help her find Rachel somehow.

If it really was her …

And it really was her revenge.

She just hoped it killed Nathan.

He deserved to die.

Painfully.


	6. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe wonders how much she can trust Max.
> 
> Kate wonders how much she can trust Max.
> 
> Victoria wonders how much she can trust Nathan.

Chloe woke up to a very delicate scene, although she arrived at it painfully, with a pathetic shuddering gasping whimper.

Damn storm dreams.

But –

Hey.

Max.

Max was just sitting there in her computer chair, looking at Chloe delicately, with just the faintest of smiles on her face.

Chloe blinked, then groaned, and sat up to rub at her forehead.

Max frowned just slightly.

“Are you okay?”

Chloe scoffed and shook her head slightly.

She came to rest on the edge of the bed and swayed her boots back and forth, even if Max’s bed was too close to the ground to dangle her feet off.

Damn short girls.

“Waking up to you is nice, but had a shit dream. About that fucking storm.”

Max went quiet.

“What’s yours about?”

Chloe shrugged, put her hands on the edge of the bed and looked down to the floor, to her boots, before back up to Max.

“It’s always the same. I’m at Blackwell, it’s terrifying outside, I run to the gym, and … then a giant piece of wood comes and takes me out. But I wake up before I feel any pain.”

Max frowned deeply.

“Different from mine …”

Chloe blinked.

“What’s yours, then?”

Max sighed, and looked down, before back up to Chloe.

“We’re at your house, and we watch the storm appear. We … talk about how we knew it was going to come on Friday and then rush to a shelter.”

Chloe frowned and crossed her arms.

“Hm, so ours contradict … I’m alone in mine. What do you think they mean?”

Max shrugged.

“I don’t know … I was trying to pretend it wasn’t real but … they’re just so _vivid_ … and I only got them after I saved you in the bathroom.”

Chloe blinked.

“… that’s true. Maybe they have something to do with your time powers?”

Max shrugged again.

“Maybe … hard to tell. If our dreams are predictive, though … we only have to Friday to figure out what to do about it.”

Chloe scoffed.

“Yeah. Sure. We’ll be able to do _so_ much about this. Like an entire town is going to trust us just because we had some fucked-up dreams.”

Max frowned.

“We have to try, though …”

Chloe shook her head and stood up.

“There’s no point. No one is going to believe us. Let’s just focus on the money and Kate and hope these fucking dreams are just that – dreams.”

Max sighed, and looked down, rubbing at her arm.

It felt wrong, but …

The storm came so suddenly in her dream.

Just the sky cracked open and it poured out.

It was clearly supernatural … and clearly not something that the town could predict coming.

Chloe had a point, she had to admit.

Who on earth would trust them about this?

They weren’t even sure themselves if they were predictive or just some sort of nightmarish consequence of Max’s powers.

They’d sure find out on Friday, though …

“I guess you’re right … In that case, let’s focus on our other problems first and worry about that when it’s closer to Friday.”

Chloe nodded.

“Yeah. We still have to deal with Kate, get Frank’s money, and deal with Nathan … where do you want to start, Max?”

Max sighed, and stood up herself with her arms crossed.

“I’m … really worried about Kate. She wasn’t in class. She never skips.”

Chloe bit her lip a bit.

“When’s the last time you talked to her?”

Max looked away and rubbed at the back of her neck.

“On Monday afternoon. She tried calling me today, but …”

… right.

Chloe awkwardly cleared her throat and looked away from Max herself.

“… sorry for that, Max.”

Max sighed wearily and looked back to Chloe.

“I don’t think I’m the one you need to apologize to.”

Chloe looked back to Max, and nodded slowly.

“… maybe not. You think she’ll answer if we knock on her door?”

Max shrugged.

“Only one way to find out … I guess.”

They both shared a smile.

Max put her hoodie back on and they left her room together.

Chloe locked the room with her key.

“What’d Nathan do to my room, by the way?”

Chloe scoffed.

“Trashed it. You’re better off not seeing the full extent, I think …”

Max frowned.

“I locked my room too … that’s really scary. What if I was in there … ?”

Chloe sighed, crossed her arms, and the two faced one another.

“I would say he’s all bark and no bite but … I can’t. I don’t feel good with you sleeping on campus, Max … how about you crash at my place until we figure this stuff with Nathan out?”

Max smiled.

“I think I’d like that a lot, Chloe … just like old times.”

Chloe smiled, too.

“Gonna love seeing you in my bed again, too.”

Max barely even registered it, and Chloe was starting to get comfortable with the idea of just uselessly flirting with Max.

“Yeah, well … we’ll see about that. I look like such a mess in the mornings.”

Chloe scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“I think I know what I find cute by now, thanks.”

Max just smiled and pushed her way gently past Chloe to go down the hall.

“You keep calling me cute and I’m going to start thinking you’re serious sometime.”

Chloe blinked.

Max realized she was being flirted with?

She just thought Chloe was being playful …

… what the hell were her friends like?

Oh Christ, did Warren flirt with her a lot?

Bad thoughts, bail bail.

Chloe shook her head and followed after Max automatically.

She decided to let Max still think it was playful, since, honestly, Chloe was still working through just how playful or serious it was.

She didn’t _really_ want Max to think she was being serious, did she …?

This was just kinda like … the best of both worlds, right?

The fun of calling a cute girl cute to her face without any of the strings of a relationship or something.

… would Rachel agree?

Before Chloe had too much time to think about it, they arrived at Kate’s door, apparently quite close to Max’s, and Max carefully knocked on it.

“Um … Kate? Are you there … it’s, um … me. Max.”

Chloe did notice, almost immediately, how different Max’s voice was when she thought she was talking to Kate, as opposed to Chloe.

Haltering, gentle, stammering, insecure …

She almost sounded like a totally different person.

Chloe wondered how much confidence she was inspiring in Max …

_You seem the same to me._

_… around you, yeah._

Chloe blinked and blushed barely again, remembering the scene nonconsensually.

Still, Kate didn’t open the door, and Max sighed.

She turned to face Chloe.

“She doesn’t want to talk.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow, but scoffed and playfully pushed Max out of the way.

“You haven’t even tried.”

Chloe cracked her neck.

Max blinked.

Chloe _slammed_ on the door.

“Yo. Open up. I know how to pick locks, so don’t make this shit harder than it has to be.”

Another slam and Max grabbed at Chloe’s shoulder to pull her away from the door –

Chloe blinked, and looked at Max, offended.

“What ---”

Max was frowning.

“--- Don’t be like _that_ to her.”

Chloe frowned, too.

“Your way doesn’t do shit.”

She looked to the door, banged it again, and Kate opened the door.

Chloe looked to Max.

“My way gets results.”

Max still frowned, but it was hard to argue that it didn’t get results …

She released Chloe’s shoulder and looked over to Kate, softening up her face immediately.

“Um … hi, Kate … how is everything …? I didn’t see you in class today …”

Chloe scoffed a little and crossed her arms, looking away from the two.

She did look sidelong to Kate, though, who kept her hands by her front, clasped together, and had this general sadness about her features.

She was still in her PJs.

It was like … 3pm.

Or something.

Chloe hadn’t checked her phone since she woke up, but she knew it was the afternoon.

Kate should be dressed.

Kate just barely smiled, and it looked so fake to Chloe.

“Everything is okay, Max … I just … felt sick today.”

Chloe rolled her eyes.

Kate was a bad liar.

She didn’t look sick, she just look like she cried a lot.

Max fidgeted a little, and her expression changed to be a bit harsher.

Since Max rarely made nervous movements like that Chloe wondered if it was time travel or something …

“Kate … please. You’re not returning my calls, and … look at you.”

Kate sighed wearily, and brought a hand up to hide her eyes in her hand.

“Max …”

Chloe scoffed, uncrossed her arms, and pushed her way past Kate to walk to the center of her room.

She turned with a bit too much force on her heel and looked to Kate, while Max just gave her a dirty look for being like _that_ again.

“We’re not dumb. We wanna talk about Nathan. And stuff.”

Kate removed her hand from her face, numbly allowing the much taller and more powerful girl by her, and blinked at the intrusion.

“… oh. You told her about that … Max?”

Kate started to walk into her room to sit down on the edge of her bed, and with a defeated sigh, Max entered Kate’s room and gently closed the door.

 “I didn’t plan on it, Kate … Chloe’s just had … some run-ins with Nathan, and … it reminded me of you.”

Kate frowned slightly, but nodded.

She looked down to the floor.

“I don’t have any more proof, Max … I’m … sorry.”

Max bit her lip, and walked a bit closer to Kate.

Chloe just shook her head, though.

“Fuck proof. Nathan’s a fucking rapist psycho. Everyone can see it.”

Kate blinked only about a million times, carefully looking up to Chloe.

Max froze, and considered rewinding, but …

“Well … that’s nice of you, Chloe, but … no one believes me.”

Chloe shrugged.

“Prescotts have the cards stacked in their favor. Doesn’t stop me from punching him the fuck out sometimes. Don't need no proof for that.”

Kate just shook her head very slightly, and looked over to Max.

“Your friend is very … colorful, Max.”

Max tried not to grin at this, and just kept her face as calm and reassuring as she could make it.

“Chloe’s … a little mean sometimes, but she means well. _We_ mean well. We need to know whatever you do about Nathan, Kate …”

Kate sighed very wearily, and looked up to the ceiling for a few seconds.

“It’s … painful to think about … but … I think he … d-drugged me.”

That came out sounding quite painful, and Kate moved her hands up to rub at both of her arms simultaneously.

Chloe unconsciously crossed her arms but consciously took a step closer to the bed.

“That’s his M.O to a fuckin’ T. He _absolutely_ drugged you.”

Kate blinked and looked back down to Chloe.

“Oh … no … he does this … often?”

Chloe nodded.

“Fucker did it to me and Rachel. Fuck knows who else … that’s why I’m trying to take him down.”

Kate shuddered.

“Oh, no … I think I’m going to be sick …”

Max sighed, and walked over to the bed to sit down carefully on the edge of it, next to Kate, and placed her hand consolingly on her shoulder to rub it firmly.

Kate unconsciously leaned a bit towards Max.

“I know this is … hard. But … any information you have … anything. We need everything if we’re going to take him down …”

Kate smiled just barely and looked over to Max.

“You two are so brave … I wish I could be like that sometime.”

She gently placed her hands in her lap again, looking up to Chloe.

“I … really don’t remember much else. I think he puts something in the drinks … at those parties they have.”

Chloe frowned.

“Damn it.”

She looked over to Max.

“I wonder if we can prove anything if we get one of those laced drinks …”

Max blinked herself.

Kate spared a brief look at Max, but looked back to Chloe soon enough.

“Um … do you think I should report this to the police?”

Chloe scoffed viciously.

“No. That’s pointless. The fucker is above the law. Stupid corrupt pigs won’t do shit …”

Kate looked down.

“Oh …”

Max bit her own lip.

“That’s why I said we should find some proof … I … accused Nathan of having a gun earlier, and Wells didn’t believe me …”

Kate melted a bit more.

“Oh …”

Chloe felt kinda bad about obviously raining on Kate’s parade, but … girl had to be realistic about this stuff.

It’d be better if she just faced the reality instead of live in this deluded fantasy land.

Max kept rubbing at Kate’s shoulder.

“But … don’t worry, Kate. We’ll get him.”

Kate did smile gently, but shook her head.

“I appreciate the thought, Max, but …”

She looked to Chloe briefly, pointedly,

“… violence never solves anything.”

Chloe just scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Kate bit her lip and looked back to Max,

“And it’s not our job as servants of the Lord to judge people for their actions … when his time comes, He will judge him. I only hope that Nathan can find forgiveness from Him before then …”

Jesus camp crap ugh.

Chloe rolled her eyes again and looked away from the two of them.

If god existed, why would he put her and Kate through so much pain?

Why would he take William away from her?

Why would he let Nathan get away with all of this shit?

There was no god.

Kate was just deluding herself again, like she was doing about thinking the police would do anything to help her.

But even Chloe had the presence of mind to not voice these thoughts to Kate.

When she looked back, Max was just smiling, barely.

“… maybe it won’t be violent. Maybe we can talk him out of this stuff.”

Kate smiled.

“If you could get him to turn himself in … I would be so happy, Max.”

They shared a saccharine smile and Chloe tried to not gag.

Nathan couldn’t be talked out of shit.

… well, Chloe couldn’t talk him out of anything, anyway …

Chloe sighed a little, looking down to the floor.

Maybe Max would be able to.

Did he deserve that, though?

A peaceful outcome when he fucking took Rachel away from her?

No.

He deserved to die.

When the time came …

Max would agree with Chloe.

She knew it.

Max wouldn’t force Chloe to show Nathan mercy.

She wouldn’t betray her like that.

He didn’t fucking deserve it.

He fucking deserved nothing.

… but what if Max felt differently?

It certainly sounded like she had more sympathies for him …

What if Max forced her to forgive Nathan?

Choose between killing him and a relationship with her?

Fucking.

Ugh.

“… are you okay, Chloe?”

Kate’s voice, surprisingly.

Chloe blinked up and looked to Kate.

“I’m fine.”

Kate bit her lip.

“You looked … angry.”

Chloe scoffed viciously.

“I’m _not_ angry.”

She uncrossed her arms and made an irritated gesture.

Max spared her a look.

The two of them just looked so … worried.

All Chloe did was worry people.

Fucking.

Ugh.

No.

“Whatever. Judge me for being angry all the fuck you want. I’m bailing.”

She turned on her heel and marched out of Kate’s room, ignoring Max calling her, and flopped down on Max’s bed.

Fuck.

 

When Chloe stormed out of the room moodily, Max called after her, but she was ignored.

Max just sighed.

“Oh, Chloe …”

Kate looked to Max.

“That girl scares me, Max …”

Max looked to Kate and nodded carefully.

“Chloe is … uhm … she can be difficult sometimes. Not a lot has gone right in her life. Losing Rachel really hurt her. But I know her heart is in the right place …”

Kate sighed.

“I hope you’re right, Max …”

 

A poignant, worrying thought, that gave Max some to think about as she politely left Kate’s room.

She seemed … okay enough.

Max still saw some smiles, and they could still … kind of talk.

They talked a little bit more about Kate’s family, and it was nice.

But how Chloe was acting was worrying.

Was Max making the right choice in teaming up with her?

Was she just blinded by her history with Chloe …?

Or how she made her feel …?

Kate’s look of pure concern Max wouldn’t forget as she walked back to her dorm room and plainly sat down at her computer chair.

Chloe was laying on her back on Max’s bed, with her hands up behind her head, and her knees pulled up just slightly.

 

“Chloe.”

Chloe blinked her eyes open, and looked over to Max with a happy smile, but …

That fucking look of concern again.

She frowned.

“Here to bitch at me for being a moody asshole?”

Max crossed her arms and sighed wearily.

“Does Kate deserve your anger? You scared her, Chloe …”

Chloe just scoffed.

“I told you. I’m not a people person.”

She looked back to Max’s ceiling.

Max sighed wearily.

“What happened to the Chloe that could make me feel good, or talk Frank down peacefully …?”

Chloe sighed herself.

Quiet.

“I don’t know, Max …”

Chloe actually did kind of know.

She turned on her side and looked at Max.

“… well. Actually …”

Max blinked carefully.

“… I got angry, then … because I thought about you asking me to chill … when it came time to take my revenge on Nathan.”

Max continued to blink.

“I … everyone always betrays me, Max. I … can’t handle that. From you.”

Max sighed a bit too wearily and stood up, before sitting down on the edge of the bed in front of Chloe.

She reached over to find one of Chloe’s hands and squeeze it.

Chloe squeezed it back.

“Chloe. I’m on _your_ side. I … don’t know what’ll happen with Nathan, but …”

She looked over to Chloe,

“… can you please just trust that I have your best interests in mind, too?”

Chloe frowned.

“Why? Fuckin … no one does. No one cares. Everyone just leaves me, Max … everyone likes me, until they don’t. Everyone tells the truth, until they don’t … everyone loves me, until they don’t …”

Oh, Chloe …

Chloe had so, so much damage …

Max suddenly leaned down and laid down on the bed in front of Chloe –

Chloe blinked, and blushed a little, not at all expecting such intimacy –

They were facing each other on the bed now and Chloe backed up just a bit to let Max have her personal space –

Max raised a hand up to stroke at Chloe’s cheek.

Chloe closed her eyes and breathed uneasily.

She put one of her hands on Max’s side, and didn’t hesitate, and didn’t know how to process how she didn’t.

“Chloe … I … don’t know how to convince you I’m not like that. We’re a team, Chloe … I won’t make any decisions about Nathan, or … anything, without your input … and … I hope you consider my input, too …”

Chloe breathed a deep, weary sigh.

“I … I don’t know, Max …”

Chloe just kept playing on repeat the idea of Max leaving her when she needed her the most, or choosing to side against her when she needed it the most, or …

The only thing that helped Chloe to trust Max was when she went along with her junkyard scheme and shot the gun with her.

Maybe she just needed more of that …

“… how about we go on some adventure tonight? That might help …”

Max blinked a few times.

“… an adventure?”

Chloe smiled.

“… yeah. Let’s break into Blackwell tonight … like Well’s office … find some more shit on Nathan. Maybe steal some cash from the cashier.”

Max smiled too.

Their voices were so gentle now, but then again, they were so close, and soft to one another right now.

“… hmmm. What if we get caught?”

Chloe grinned.

“… you won’t get caught around me. I’m not exactly an amateur here ...”

Max closed her eyes and brought her hand away from Chloe’s cheek.

She imitated what Chloe did and just rested her hand on Chloe’s side, and it felt so incredibly intimate, but Max wasn’t breathing uneasily from it, she was just comforted and content.

Chloe seemed like she was, too.

“… I’m going to hold you to that, Chloe.”

Chloe just rolled her eyes.

“It’ll be fine … it’ll just be like old times again. Working more as a team … it’ll be nice.”

The thought was pretty nice, Max had to admit, even if she was still uncertain about committing crimes with Chloe …

She was perfectly conflicted between trying to prove herself to Chloe, and show that she was worthy of her trust, and not go against her morals in the process.

Breaking into Nathan’s room wasn’t really a big deal in Max’s mind, but stealing money … breaking and entering into Well’s office and the campus grounds … this was getting more serious of crimes.

Just how far was she willing to go for Chloe … ?

Just how far was Rachel willing to go for Chloe … ?

She supposed she was going to find out one way or another.

“Okay …”

Max suddenly pushed herself upright and into a sitting position.

“Let me do my homework and catch up on my school stuff at your place … then tonight we can come back and have our little adventure.”

Chloe watched Max go with no uncertain amount of disappointment, but she couldn’t place why she felt like this.

She wanted more of that intimacy from Max …

Ugh.

Max stood up and started collecting her stuff.

Chloe sat up on Max’s bed and just thought things through.

Chloe … very definitely wanted to continue cuddling with Max, right there.

But Max was just using the affection to ground her.

Right?

It wasn’t romantic …

Max didn’t respond to her flirts.

Do friends cuddle?

Chloe could see herself cuddling with Steph, maybe.

Steph.

Holy crap.

Chloe pulled out her phone, and opened her conversation with Steph, and … flinched internally.

_you moved to LA? fucking find rachel. she’s gotta be there. she has to be_

_Chloe, LA is huge, she could be anywhere here_

_I don’t fucking care just find her. don’t talk to me until you do_

_ok …_

 

… damn.

When did she send this …?

Months ago.

Did Chloe just pull a Max on Steph?

Just for Rachel?

Anything was worth Rachel.

… or was it?

Chloe sort of desperately wanted some advice on this shit.

And she felt bad about being so mean to Steph, like that.

Steph didn’t deserve her anger.

_hey_

A response came back pretty quickly.

_Haven't found her. Still looking tho._

Chloe bit her lip.

Steph was sweet, sometimes … even when Chloe was being an unmitigated asshole, and didn’t deserve it.

_it's not about that_

Chloe breathed in deep, looked up, then back down to her phone.

_and I’m sorry for being difficult._

This response took a while.

_Oh. Apology accepted I guess. Are you getting over Rachel?_

Chloe blinked, and looked up to Max, who was just dumbly but cutely shoving some shit into her bag to try and make it all fit.

_kinda. it’s complicated. I want advice tho. what do you do when you want to cuddle with your friend but you have a gf_

A response came back quickly.

_I’d totally cuddle the shit out of you but Rachel would tear me a new one._

Chloe smiled.

_answer the question_

Another quick response.

_IDK girls can be complicated sometimes. Do you only want to cuddle?_

Chloe looked back up to Max …

_idk_

Chloe, honestly, didn’t know anymore, and that confused her more than anything else.

_Well … just don’t rush it. Whatever happens, happens. Rachel will understand after so long, Chloe … don’t let that ruin what you have with this girl now._

Chloe smiled, barely.

_you give good advice. how do you not have a wife yet_

A somewhat slower response.

_Too busy helping useless lesbians. ;)_

Chloe scoffed.

_no emoji. and I resent the insinuation_

But she was still smiling.

_Have you kissed her yet?_

Chloe rolled her eyes.

_no_

She looked up to Max.

Kissing Max …

The thought distracted her for a few seconds before she looked back down to her phone.

_Useless!_

Chloe scoffed again.

_now I see why you don’t have a wife_

She felt pretty proud of that one.

_Owch. Anyway I’m glad you’re back, Chloe._

Chloe sighed wearily, and leaned back on Max’s bed with her hands supporting her weight far behind her for a few seconds.

Max finally finished shoving a bunch of crap into her bag, and it looked so over-stuffed it was almost comical, but she looked so cutely proud of the fact she still managed it.

She looked to Chloe.

“Ready to go?”

Chloe nodded, and stood up from the bed.

She looked back down to her phone.

_me too._

 

_Is she cute?_

 

Chloe scoffed as they left Max’s room, and suddenly wrapped an arm around Max to drag her into her side, raise the phone up and –

_Click._

Max didn’t know how to handle Chloe suddenly hugging her like this, but figured out what was going on soon enough.

A group selfie.

Still didn’t give her the time to smile before the picture was taken, though, she just kind of uselessly gaped her mouth.

While Chloe smiled.

_see for yourself_

Afterwards, Chloe released Max, and they kept walking.

“Who’d you send that to?”

Chloe shrugged.

“My personal collection. And … an old friend.”

Max smiled.

It was so nice seeing Chloe talking to more and more people …

“You wanna tell me about her?”

Chloe made an amused scoffing sound.

“Just Steph. She’s uh. Huge fuckin’ gay dork.”

Max blinked.

“Huge fuckin’ gay dork?”

Chloe nodded.

“Hey look you said fuck ---”

Max blushed,

“--- but yeah. Awesome girl. Just one of the many causalities of Blackwell converting into this prep school thing though … She doesn’t really have a lot of artsy interests.”

Max hummed thoughtfully.

“I didn’t even know Blackwell existed before it was a prep school …”

Chloe exhaled pleasantly.

“Man you’ve missed a lot of stories, Max …”

Chloe finally looked back to her phone.

_Omg no way that’s Max isn’t it. She’s adorable!_

Chloe blinked.

_yeah_

She then quickly blinked again and typed out some more stuff.

_to the her being max thing_

_not her being adorable thing_

A response came back immediately, almost before she could finish the third message.

_Whatever you say. ;)_

Chloe huffed indignantly, and blushed a little.

_I’m not crushing on max gdi_

“Done?”

Chloe blinked, suddenly realizing they were at her truck and just kind of awkwardly sitting there while she was texting.

“Uh. Sure. Sorry. Steph’s just annoying sometimes.”

They got into Chloe’s truck.

_Do I really have to go through every single gay thing you’ve done towards this girl or nah? Bc like. Omg. You’re so gay for this girl it’s not even funny._

She blushed some more, and started the truck.

Steph was just being annoying, again …

She didn’t need to dignify that with a response.

 

But it gave her a lot to think about as they drove back towards Chloe’s house.

Was she crushing on Max?

Could there be any other reason she wanted to cuddle with her and got lost thinking about kissing her?

Maybe Steph was right.

She just …

Couldn’t rush this.

Things were too raw after Rachel.

Max would probably understand, but Chloe still needed her time to process through this stuff.

She’d know when the moment was right to do something more.

Or maybe Max would …

… nah.

Max still thought Chloe was just being playful.

Chloe would have to make a move, at some point.

Later.

 

In Chloe’s room, she had even more time to think.

It didn’t make things any easier, but she felt increasingly more comfortable with the idea of being something more than a friend to Max.

Especially if she came through this afternoon.

For now, though, she just casually smoked weed while laying on her bed and watched Max do her homework.

She had this outrageously cute look of concentration when she was trying …

Shame Chloe was a dropout idiot and couldn’t help her with anything.

In a few precious hours, they’d be breaking into Blackwell and causing all kinds of ruckus.

Max was going to be such a badass, she knew it.

They might actually get all of this shit handled …

Things didn’t seem like they went too awfully with Kate, other than Chloe being moody at the end.

And there had to be some money _somewhere_ in the Backwell offices, right?

Then she could pay back Frank and …

They had some fresh leads with Nathan and …

Damn.

Things were kinda looking up.

 

“Hey, Chloe … Chemistry was your favorite subject, right?”

Chloe blinked, suddenly.

“Uh. Maybe when I was a little shit head. I’m too stupid for that stuff now though so like ---”

Max looked back to Chloe and just rolled her eyes.

“Can’t be worse than me. _Come_ _here_.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, but, smiled a bit as she put her joint down on her ashtray, got up from the bed, and loosely plodded over to Max.

She leaned over from behind Max and lazily draped her arms down on her chest.

“Bossy bossy … alright Max, I’m your little chemistry slave, what’s up?”

Max looked up to the Chloe stacked on top of her – as much as she could, and just smiled.

Chloe smiled, too.

 

\---

 

“Have you seen this yet?”

Victoria blinked and carefully accepted Taylor’s phone.

“What on earth … is this Max’s room?”

Taylor grinned a little.

“And just how would you know what Max’s room looks like?”

Victoria rolled her eyes and shoved playfully at Taylor’s shoulder.

“Shut up, bitch. Was _is_ this?”

Taylor shrugged.

“Chloe sent it to me. Said Nathan did it.”

Victoria blinked.

Nathan?

… no way.

This was like …

Serial killer shit.

Severed dolls?

Fucking yikes.

“Bitch is lying. It’s just part of their feud. She’s just trying to make him look bad.”

Victoria quickly tapped a _like I believe that_ in response before handing the phone back to Taylor.

Taylor huffed.

“You bitch, you sent a message to her.”

Victoria just shrugged and went back to her computer.

“Guilty.”

Quiet.

“Did you hear what happened with Chloe and Warren?”

Victoria shrugged.

“Like I care.”

Taylor just hummed pleasantly, and sat down on Victoria’s bed.

“She was like three seconds away from punching him. She was cussing him out madly and everything.”

Victoria scoffed, amused.

“Good. I would have paid good money to see that.”

Taylor hesitated.

“She said Nathan already punched him, though … which would explain that shiner.”

Victoria frowned.

“Chloe and Nathan are really going at each other … Nathan told me she almost flipped out this morning and decked him.”

Taylor blinked.

“Damn.”

Victoria sighed, and looked up from her computer to Taylor, again.

“I hope those two idiots don’t get any worse. The little spats they have parties is bad enough …”

Taylor shrugged.

“Chloe said Rachel disappearing put a wedge between them.”

Rachel.

Ugh.

Victoria unconsciously stiffened.

She so didn’t want to talk about this.

“You’re talking to this Chloe bitch a lot.”

Taylor shrugged again.

“Juicy news follows bad girls, you know that.”

Victoria rolled her eyes.

“Just … don’t get punched out.”

Taylor smiled.

“Is that concern, Victoria?”

Victoria scoffed.

“Not in a million goddamn years.”

It was, though.

Nathan and Chloe were both acting in … concerning ways, lately.

 She hoped it was just nothing.


	7. Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathan is pissed; Victoria is concerned.
> 
> Max and Chloe go on a date.
> 
> Chloe doesn't worry about how much she trusts Max, anymore.

Nathan was pissed.

She wasn’t fucking here.

Max’s room had been repaired somewhat so she must have come back.

But she wasn’t fucking here.

Where the fuck else could she be?

Nathan saw her come to photography class, even if he didn’t have it, since he was chatting with V.

She had to be fucking _somewhere_.

Just …

Ugh.

Nathan clenched his fists and raised them up to his head and tightly gripped at his hair for a few seconds.

Stupid.

He was being stupid.

He couldn’t even fucking intimidate this tiny little girl.

How pathetic was he?

Even a nerd like Warren didn’t fear him.

And Max …

She walked all over him and almost got him fucking kicked out for some self-defense against that fucking psycho and ---

_Ugh._

He pulled out his burner phone.

_ur not fukin safe_

Some of her stuff was gone, too.

Fuck.

Did she move out?

Or did she just have friends now?

Max, having friends.

He scoffed at the idea.

… well, she had one friend.

Nathan smirked, put his phone away, and stormed out of Max’s room.

He went down every dry erase board in the hall and wrote the link to Kate’s video on it.

People would fucking know to fear him if they just watched that.

People would fucking know what a two-sided judgmental bitch Kate was if they watched that.

All high and mighty and pure yet such a fucking slut with the barest of encouragements.

He would be feared.

He would be feared.

He would be feared.

Fuck.

 

Afterwards, he knocked on V’s door, and she let him in.

He plopped down on her couch face-first with a bit too much energy and frustration.

Ugh.

 

Victoria blinked carefully.

She sat down on her computer chair, crossed one leg over the other, and with her face in one hand, cleared her throat.

Nathan got up from the laying position to sit on the couch correctly, and looked plainly back at her.

He was clearly upset about something.

“What’s wrong?”

Nathan scoffed indignantly and crossed his arms, looking off to some of the posters and picture’s on Victoria’s walls.

“Max isn’t in her room.”

Victoria stiffened immediately.

Shit.

Nathan didn’t actually go into her room earlier and do that shit with the fucking severed doll heads, did he?

“Why do you care? The little mousey bitch is beneath you.”

He scoffed dangerously and looked back to her.

“Uh huh. Just like she’s beneath you, huh? _Please_. She’s all you fuckin’ think about in photography class.”

Victoria scoffed herself, crossed her own arms, and looked away.

“Um, _okay_ , rude. But seriously.”

She looked back to him, and he frowned some.

“I need to talk to her. When she’s _alone_. She needs to know she can’t … **fuck** with me.”

Victoria shrugged.

“She won’t care, you know. Max doesn’t care about us.”

Envy is a sin, Victoria.

Nathan just grunted, and leaned forward.

He placed his elbows on his legs.

“Maybe not … _shit_. Can’t even fucking intimidate that worthless bitch … ugh.”

Victoria bit her lip, and carefully stood up.

She always hated it when Nathan tore into himself like that …

And he was doing it so, so often these days …

“Nathan …”

She walked over to him and carefully placed a hand on his cheek while keeping her other arm crossed at her chest.

He closed his eyes and exhaled a weary, shaky breath.

But he flopped back to rest lazily against the bed.

He looked up to her.

“Yeah, V?”

No one fucking shortened her name.

Except Nathan.

“You got this. You ---”

Victoria suddenly remembered more of her gossip with Taylor, thankfully –

“--- decked the fuck out of that Warden ---”

“--- Warren ---”

“--- _whatever_ , that _Warren_ idiot. And you trashed her room, right? She’s gotta be fucking terrified.”

He breathed in calmly, and nodded.

“… yeah. You’re right, V … thanks.”

Victoria didn’t smile, even though it felt really nice to comfort Nathan, because she knew why Max would be terrified.

Because _Victoria_ was fucking terrified.

He just all-but confirmed he was beating up people randomly and severing fucking doll heads.

Lord only fucking knows what else he was up to.

But she was a good friend, god damn it.

Nathan needed her more now than any time else.

Especially when everyone else was turning their backs on him and gossiping like the little two-faced bitches they were.

About his meds.

His twitch.

His unevenness.

Even Taylor …

Victoria just … had to tolerate this.

He would be okay soon enough.

This drama with Chloe and him just had to be resolved.

Then she would have her old best friend back.

And everything would be fine.

“But … I don’t know if you’re going to see her _alone_. Everyone says Chloe and Max spent the entire day together … they’re inseparable now.”

 

Nathan frowned.

 

“ _Chloe_ , huh …”

 

Max suddenly finds out about the gun when only he and Chloe knew about it.

Chloe was using her now to make Nathan’s life even _worse_.

That fucking _bitch_.

She needed to die.

Before things got even worse.

Before the school and his dad found out about everything.

Before he failed, again, like he always did.

If they were always together now, maybe he could kill two birds with one stone.

He sighed and just looked at Victoria for a few seconds.

At least Victoria didn’t know about the gun.

Even he was aware that pulling a gun on Chloe wasn’t a good look … even with how understanding Victoria was.

Victoria was the only one who understood him.

She was the only one who cared, anymore.

She just …

She just didn’t need to know how deep this shit went.

He’d deal with Chloe.

Then everything would be fine, again.

He’d do something right, for once, and the constant fucking reminder of Rachel would go away.

He could take those fucking taunting posters down without them being right back up the next day.

He could move on.

Maybe Rachel would never forgive him for what he did, and maybe he didn’t even deserve forgiveness anymore for that.

But he knew he deserved better than Chloe.

He just needed to not fuck this up.

 

Victoria bit her lip.

The way he said Chloe’s name …

Fucking terrifying.

She just hoped no one would get seriously hurt.

This was getting scary.

 

Nathan left her room, soon enough, to go find Chloe and Max.

Victoria pulled out her phone, and regrettably started texting Taylor.

Deep, heavy sigh.

_wyd? have u heard anything else abt nathan_

She really didn’t want to know.

But she knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if this went seriously sideways and she didn’t put a stop to it when she could.

She also pulled up Chloe’s conversation.

 

_stop fucking with nathan and kys already like the worthless piece of white trash u are hanging w max doesn’t suddenly make you cool like tf_

 

A response from Chloe came quickly, even before Taylor.

_max is way cooler than you’ll ever be. I bet you’re still touching yourself to her_

Ughhhh.

Victoria _hated_ it how easily Chloe saw right through her.

She was so cool.

And careless.

Just like Max.

Envy is a sin, Victoria.

 

 

\---

 

 

“Here. Put this on.”

Max blinked as some clothes were inexplicably dumped onto her lap.

“What’re ---”

Chloe scoffed,

“--- clothes, obviously, dummy. If we’re doing this shit we’re doing it right and you’re going to look the part.”

Max spared a look back to Chloe, who was taking off her flannel.

Max decided to watch her do this and nothing else for a little while.

“O-oh.”

Chloe noticed, and grinned somewhat as she carefully put Rachel’s flannel back into her closet.

Probably the only set of clothes she bothered to hang up right and everything.

There was actually a decent amount for Max to ogle, since her tanks were cut and quite revealing – even some of her bra cups showed.

“Staring, Max? I know, I’m pretty hot …”

She closed the closet and turned around with a bit too much force.

Chloe decided to go all out and hooked a hand underneath her own shirt to slowly raise it up –

Max just blinked and hurriedly looked down to the clothes she’d been given.

And blushed – finally.

A flirt landed right.

That felt … tremendously satisfying.

Max was having a gay panic because of Chloe.

“U-uhm. I was just … uh. A-admiring your … tattoo?”

A total crap excuse and the both of them knew it, which just left Chloe grinning obnoxiously as she prowled over to the bed and sat down too forcefully.

She found one of her – many – jackets in a nearby clothes pile and put it on.

Just some dark denim thing.

“Riiiiight. Little miss _lesbian_ need to use the ladies’ room to change?”

Max let out an uneasy exhale, but nodded.

Normally, she would have felt pretty at ease changing around Chloe – since they had done as such a lot when they were younger.

But things felt … different, now.

Max couldn’t place quite why, but it did mean she wanted the privacy.

 

“I’m bi, for your i-information. I think. And y-yeah. To get away from _you._ ”

 

Max found some footing from her helplessness in teasing Chloe, and Chloe made a mock offended gesture, but soon Max was standing up and walking out of Chloe’s room to go change in the bathroom.

Chloe watched her go with a playful grin.

She just totally caught Max checking her out and called her out for it and she got embarrassed and she was so cute and she confirmed she was queer and ---

Fuck.

Chloe plopped onto her back on the bed and groaned, raising a hand up to rub firmly at her forehead.

Max was into her, or at the very least, found her attractive enough to ogle.

Chloe felt similarly about Max, and stopped herself from thinking about her changing in the bathroom too much.

This flirting couldn’t be called playful anymore.

They were both queer.

And into each other.

This was _not_ like the sometimes teasing sometimes flirting she did with Steph.

This is … _not_ what just friends do.

And Rachel would probably definitely be mad if she knew about it.

And if she knew how Max got to Chloe.

… or would she?

Six months is such a fucking long time.

Chloe experienced it day by fucking day.

Coming home alone every single night and not having anyone to go out with.

Falling apart.

Rachel might be upset but she would fucking understand how much that ruined Chloe, and why she might develop feelings for someone else in her absence.

She might slap Max and call them both whores, but she would understand.

And could she honestly blame Chloe, if she knew what she went through?

Every single fucking day.

Alone.

It was just like Steph said.

Six months is a long goddamn time.

 

Chloe pulled out her phone.

_ok maybe I’m crushing a little bit but have you even seen this girl it’s like_

She sighed, and closed her eyes for a few seconds.

_no one could blame me for falling for her_

 

A response came back soon enough.

_And no one will, Chloe. Make a move. Rachel will understand._

Chloe smiled.

When people talked about Rachel, the assumption was always that she was never coming back.

Steph, though, Steph kept the hope up for Chloe.

She wasn’t telling her that Rachel was gone and she should just forget her and move on.

She was telling her that Rachel would understand.

Like she could still come back tomorrow.

And she would still love Chloe when she did.

And that just …

It made Chloe so happy that Steph was her friend, even after everything she’d done and all.

And she didn’t know how badly she was missing this in the some months they’d not been talking.

_thanks. you're an awesome friend_

Smile.

The response came back more slowly than the others.

_Awww thanks Chloe that means so much to me! :)_

Chloe blinked.

Steph didn’t say she was an awesome friend in return.

And that …

Chloe kinda deserved that.

She hadn’t been … anything, really, these past few months.

Steph deserved better.

Chloe was going to be a better friend.

_what about you? seeing anyone lately?_

This response was instant.

_Yes, actually! Here, look!_

Chloe received an image of Steph kissing some cute girl and they both just looked so _happy_ and gay and ---

_that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. grats_

It felt nice to just talk like this.

Another feeling Chloe didn’t know she was missing until it was suddenly jammed back into her life, again.

Max knocked on Chloe’s door – as though she didn’t have permission to enter whenever already – and Chloe just rolled her eyes, and looked up from her phone.

“You can come in whenever you want, dude. No need to knock.”

Max opened the door and –

Oh god.

Max in Chloe’s clothes was –

Chloe blushed.

“I know … I just wanted to see what your reaction would be.”

Max smiled, playfully.

This girl.

Oh god.

“Are you … trying to make me blush, Max? Because that’s how you make me blush, jeez.”

Chloe looked down to her phone to hide some of her shame.

_you should tell me some stories about her. I bet they’re all awesome. and gay._

“Maybe a little.”

Christ.

Chloe scoffed, playfully, but still got up from the bed.

She still wasn’t looking at Max, though, since … yeah.

_Only if you tell me your first kiss story with Max. Tonight. ;)_

Another scoff.

_deal. and no gd emoji_

“Well.”

Chloe looked up to Max, finally, and put her phone away.

There was no denying it anymore.

“I think you look hot in that, Max.”

And she did.

Max could look so fucking awesome if she actually tried sometime.

And not like, needing-with-the-girly-shit kind of trying.

Just these distressed skinny jeans, band tee shirt, and denim jacket.

Not a lot of effort, but _some_.

She still had on her unimpressive shoes but it was whatever.

They’d get her some kickin’ chucks and awesome boots later.

Max smiled so warmly, and crossed her arms.

“Relatable meme.”

Oh my fucking god.                                            

Max was _such_ a dork like --- _seriously_ \---

Chloe was in love.

 

After Chloe kicked Max’s ass a little for being such a fucking dork they decided to head out.

 

\---

 

Nathan pushed some people for information.

But no one knew where they were.

And they fucking left by Chloe’s truck, apparently.

Ugh.

They could be anywhere.

This shit would have to wait until tomorrow.

Max would be on campus, right?

She wouldn’t just start skipping classes …

He’d follow her after her photography class.

Then he’d make sure she didn’t fuck with him ever again.

All the better if Chloe was with her.

 

 

\---

 

 

Chloe parked the truck at Blackwell, and Max didn’t insist she park it correctly this time, since no one was here anyway.

Chloe opened the glove box and took the gun out, considering taking it with her.

Max looked carefully at Chloe.

“Do you want to upgrade our breaking and entering charges to armed robbery?”

It was playful, but there was an undercurrent of seriousness to it.

Chloe just scoffed and checked if the gun was even still loaded.

“Thinkin’ about it … but I don’t have any bullets in the car and we shot all of them earlier. So. Pointless.”

She put the gun back in the glove box, closed it, and looked to Max.

“You’re still chill with this? I mean, what we’re about to do. I expected some more … moralizing …”

Max smiled, just barely, and nodded.

She leaned forward to get one of Chloe’s hands and squeeze it.

“I’m … I have some … concerns, yeah … but we’re a team, Chloe. I would do anything to keep you safe and help you.”

Chloe smiled.

She wasn’t a good influence …

But Max was still going along with her.

Maybe Chloe was wrong to distrust her.

Fuck.

What would they be if Chloe trusted her and was crushing so bad on her?

Girlfriends, probably …

Max smiled a bit wider.

“Made you blush.”

Chloe scoffed, but ---

Max giggled and got out of the truck.

Chloe watched her walk around to the front of it and look expectantly at her.

Damn.

Max was such a badass now …

And she even looked it with Chloe’s clothes.

Chloe got out of the truck herself and met up with Max again.

“Okay, so … what’s the plan? You were too busy teasing me to be helpful.”

Max scoffed and crossed her arms.

“Plan? I thought you were in charge here.”

Chloe smirked.

“Maybe. Or, maybe we’re a _team_ , ---”

She really leaned in on the emphasis to affectionately mock Max’s use of the word,

“--- and we need to decide this shit together, now. I think we should tag that fucking statue and then break into Wells' office.”

Max blinked.

“Tag the statue?”

Chloe nodded, grinning now.

“Yeah.”

She brought out a permanent marker from her back pocket and brandished it.

It’d been a while since she tagged something …

It just felt so juvenile when Rachel was missing.

But this was different.

This was a special night with Max.

They could be a little juvenile.

“Like … graffiti?”

Chloe put it back in her pocket and nodded.

 

“Yeah. Just something to remember us by.”

 

Max thought about it, visibly, then smiled, a little.

“’Artsy types like you have to have some way of expressing themselves’, right?”

Chloe blinked.

Did Max just fucking turn her words on her like that?

From yesterday morning.

That felt like so long ago, now.

God … damn.

This girl.

Max smiled, took Chloe’s hand, and tugged her along.

“Alright, Chloe. Let’s be 13 and tag it. I can just … rewind … if anything goes wrong.”

While Chloe quite liked being tugged along like this …

She walked a bit faster until they were side by side, and took Max’s hand that was tugging her to interlock their fingers.

Being lead was hot.

But being a team felt even better.

A feeling Chloe had almost forgotten about in the six months she’d been flying solo.

And it was intoxicating.

 

While Chloe took to marking the statue up, Max took pictures of her.

Chloe looked so awesome and cute and careless while she was doing it, Max just had to.

Even if it made photographic evidence, she could just rewind if anyone found out about the pictures.

Max was invincible with her powers.

 

Afterwards, they made it to the entrance of Blackwell, and Chloe started to pick the lock.

“So what other … skills do you have?”

Chloe hummed inquisitively.

“Oooh, nice first date question.”

Max blinked.

And blushed.

“Can shoot a gun pretty well. Uh. Good at joint rolling … lockpicking kind of.”

Max hummed.

“You can draw, too. With that graffiti.”

Chloe shrugged.

“Not really … I just draw dumb shit. Nothing impressive.”

Max repeated the humming.

“Are you telling me none of your graffiti is impressive?”

Chloe hesitated.

“Well … this one time …”

She looked over to Max,

“… before I got kicked out of this fuckin’ place …”

Max blinked.

Chloe looked back to the doors.

“I totally marked up one of the bathrooms. Some cool drawings there … bet it took _weeks_ for them to wash it all off … and I saw Victoria’s smug little bitch face get surprised about, too …”

Max smiled, slightly.

“Is annoying Victoria fun?”

Chloe laughed, earnestly.

“You bet it is. She’s so stuck-up about everything and is so obviously jealous of Rachel it wasn’t even funny.”

She then hummed flatly.

“Actually. It was funny a few times. But more of just sad. Rachel was a better version of her in every way and she did it without trying.”

Max nodded.

“I wish I could … I always feel really nervous and uncomfortable around her.”

Chloe shrugged.

“Bet you could if you try … try hitting on her next time.”

Max scoffed and put her hand over her heart all dramatically.

“I don’t just … randomly hit on people.”

Chloe shrugged, again.

“But you could.”

She looked back to Max and winked, and Max just blinked.

“’sides. You got goddamn time powers. You can do anything you put your mind to, Max.”

Max smiled, earnestly, and sighed contently.

“Thanks, Chloe.”

 

Quiet.

 

“What about music?”

Chloe scoffed, and went back to working the door.

“Next you’re going to start asking me what my favorite kind of food is.”

Max frowned, a little.

“This isn’t a … date, or something.”

Chloe spared her a look.

“Rachel and I dated like this all of the time. Dates don’t have to be these hugely romantic dinners.”

Max went quiet in consideration.

“Sometimes it can just be you and the only person you want to spend time with that day sitting in a clubhouse, quietly smoking weed while you are gently cuddling and just watching the day go by … and just talking about stuff … real stuff. Important stuff.”

Max hummed flatly.

“So you want to talk important stuff, then.”

Chloe smiled.

“If you wanna date me, yeah.”

Max sighed a little, and crossed her arms, considering some more.

She rested against the doors.

“Does thinking about Rachel still hurt?”

Oof.

Chloe sighed herself, and finally finished picking the goddamn lock.

She stood up, and looked carefully over to Max.

“Sometimes, yeah. But I have other things I can think about, now …”

She offered her hand meaningfully to Max, and Max blushed somewhat, but still smiled and took Chloe’s hand.

They were quiet as they made their way to Wells' office, just in case someone was still around for some reason.

But they held hands the entire way there.

Just before Wells' office there was another room for his secretary and as like a general waiting room for students before they saw him.

The door to his office was of course locked.

“Ugh, another fucking lock … I really should have just stole David’s keys or something. _That_ would have been great. Using his keys to steal from Blackwell …”

Max scoffed, and rolled her eyes.

“You’re still sure about stealing money …”

It wasn’t a question.

Chloe sighed.

“Look, Max. I _know_ it’s wrong. Like. I’m not an idiot. But … see it from my point of view? I have no income. I owe someone a lot of money and they’re a dangerous someone. Blackwell won’t notice the money … but I sure will.”

It was an interesting thing to think about.

It was Chloe’s fault that she owed Frank the money to begin with.

Or was it the fault of whatever caused Rachel’s disappearance for putting Chloe in that hole to begin with?

Chloe was right that the money would be appreciated more by her, but …

That didn’t make it seem right.

Was stealing from rich to give to the poor any more justifiable morally?

Stealing from the rich to give to the poor who might get stabbed if they don’t have money?

Max couldn’t honestly say that was morally wrong.

Or right.

Just … confusing.

Same with breaking into Wells' office.

Obviously and plainly a crime.

But …

To get more information to stop Nathan.

Did the ends justify the means?

Max somehow thought all of this was too complicated for someone her age to be dealing with, but couldn’t imagine an age where it was somehow appropriate.

Maybe it’s hard to make simple judgements like “stealing is wrong” and “don’t commit crimes” without the context of every situation.

That’s why courts exist, right? To deal with that kind of nuance.

So long as they weren’t hurting anybody …

 

Max’s phone suddenly ringed, which made her blink.

She pulled it out.

Who on earth could possibly be calling her now … ?

Chloe spared her a look back.

Uh.

Were they dating, now? And was Max interrupting that?

“Whossit?”

Max blinked, and looked down to her phone.

“Warren.”

Chloe frowned, a little.

“Tell him off.”

Max sighed a little wearily but took the call anyway.

At least Chloe wasn’t blowing up on her.

 

“Hi, Warren … I’m kind of … busy … right now.”

Chloe spared her another look back and wondered just what kind of relationship those two had.

Warren had secured a movie date with her, earlier, right?

Did that mean they were dating?

Was it serious?

What about whatever this was?

Max said she was bi, so … he wasn’t automatically eliminated as a suspect.

Didn’t Chloe tell Warren to buzz off?

 

“No, no … it’s not … not like that. It’s um. A date. Yeah. With Chloe. You’re … _kinda_ interrupting.”

 

Well.

That answers that.

Chloe smirked and went back to picking the lock.

Go away, Warren.

Max was hers, now.

Max then scoffed playfully.

“Are you that much of a … scrub? I’m _not_ telling you how to play the game. Just … get good.”

Chloe rolled her eyes.

Max was _such_ a fucking dork.

But her dork.

“Yeah. I said it.”

Her marvelously dorky dork.

“Talk to you later. Bye.”

At least she sounded more confident.

Like the Max she knew.

Chloe loved to think she was bringing that side out of Max for everyone to see.

 

The door opened, suddenly, and Chloe backed up, horribly confused.

Max was ---

Right there.

“Jesus.”

Chloe looked back and –

Sure enough, her Max wasn’t there.

Time travel, she guessed.

Wait, Max could move during it?

That could be … quite useful.

“You were taking too long. I improvised.”

Chloe looked back to Max that just fucking teleported and scoffed.

“Um … excuse me, let me just add ‘magic time travel powers’ to my fucking shopping list.”

Max giggled.

“You dork.”

She extended her hand out and Chloe took it.

She got up but she got up with a bit too much energy –

She kinda tripped forward –

 

They collided, and their faces were so close –

 

But Chloe hesitated.

 

They just kinda stared at each other plainly from this very close position.

Then the moment was gone, and they looked away from each other, both blinking and blushing.

Max removed herself and cleared her throat.

Chloe crossed her arms and cleared her throat as well.

That was a moment.

Wasn’t it?

She could have kissed Max there.

It would have been cutesy and cheeky and …

Chloe couldn’t.

“Uhm. A-anyway …”

She brushed her way past Max, trying to recover the awkward situation by sitting down a bit too forcefully on Wells' big-ass chair.

Max looked to Chloe.

They were both still blushing.

But Chloe put her boots up on the table and crossed her hands behind her head.

“Who’s the principal now?”

And Max just smiled, a little.

Always cracking a joke when neither of them knew what to say.

Max herself was still piecing through what that bit of awkwardness really meant.

Chloe looked like she was so close to kissing her …

And they were on a kinda date thing?

At least it felt like enough of a date.

Kissing is what you do on dates …

Not that Max would know …

But Chloe couldn’t.

Did she have trouble kissing girls?

Max kind of figured she didn’t.

She kissed Rachel a lot, didn’t she?

Rachel …

Max bit her lip.

Chloe probably was still thinking of her …

She walked over to the desk, somehow not at all minding the fact this was Wells' office anymore and that they were breaking and entering.

“So …”

Chloe looked up to her.

“Hey.”

Max hesitated.

“What is … all of this?”

Chloe shrugged.

“Expensive shit from a dude compensating what do you –”

Max shook her head.

“N-no … I mean … us. You … flirt a lot and … we’re kinda? on a date you said and … that … moment …”

Chloe blinked.

Max blinked.

Chloe blushed some more, sighed, and brought her boots down to the floor.

“… I-I don’t know, Max. I’m still … trying to figure it out. I guess.”

Max nodded carefully.

“I don’t want to … rush you, or anything …”

Chloe laughed, kind of awkwardly.

“I um … I don’t think we have to worry about _you_ rushing _me_ , Max.”

Max smiled, herself.

“Okay … you’re … probably right.”

She then looked around the room.

“What do you think we’ll even find in here, anyway?”

Chloe hummed thoughtfully.

“Porn.”

Max scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“ _Seriously_.”

Chloe just shrugged and tried to get into Wells' computer.

“Well … I don’t know. Just … something … more … on Nathan. Check the files. And cabinets ‘n shit. Do that snooping thing y’do, snoopy.”

Max rolled her eyes, but obliged Chloe anyway.

She started searching the filing cabinets here for Nathan’s file.

“Uhm … what’ll you do after … all of this?”

Chloe blinked.

“What.”

Max spared her a look.

“When we deal with Nathan and … pay off Frank.”

Chloe shrugged.

“I … don’t know. Dealing with Nathan was like this … far-off distant impossible thing for six months … and Rachel …”

She sighed.

“I don’t want to leave town without her. What if she comes back and I’m not here?”

Max sighed herself.

“She has your number, doesn’t she?”

Chloe scoffed.

“She has it memorized. Of course.”

Max bit her lip and allowed Chloe to make the connection herself.

“Maybe you’ll get a job at the diner? With Joyce? Then you could stay here?”

Chloe just hummed flatly, tapping away at Wells’ keyboard.

“Can you even _imagine_ me as a waitress? I’d be fucking terrible.”

Max smiled.

She liked imagining Chloe as one …

With her tattoos and hair and all …

“Well … maybe not a waitress … what about cook?”

Chloe scoffed.

“I can burn water, Max. Hard pass.”

Max giggled.

“You could like, learn … though.”

Chloe just rolled her eyes.

“Okay, okay … maybe not a job at the diner. Are you still into cars? I remember you … and William …”

Max kind of trailed off, awkwardly, not sure how much Chloe had gotten over his death.

It’d certainly left its own impact on Max.

“Yeah. I am. I fixed up that truck myself from the junkyard. Got it runnin’ ‘n fix most shit that I can.”

Max blinked.

At least it seemed she was mostly over him dying …

“That’s amazing.”

Chloe shrugged.

“It’s something.”

She sighed.

“Rachel and I were so close to leaving with it … drive over to LA.”

Max hummed, finally finding Nathan’s file in this huge mess,

“You were going to be a mechanic and she was going to be a model. I remember now.”

Chloe sighed.

“Yeah.”

There was some quiet while Max picked through Nathan’s file for anything interesting.

Chloe noticed, and noticed that she was reading a file, and so got up from the chair with a grin, snuck up behind Max, since she was doing that hyper-focusing thing again, and suddenly pounced on her, placing both of her hands on Max’s shoulders and squeezing tightly.

“Got you!”

Max, for her part, jumped about a million miles into the air – though Chloe kept her grounded – and let out a cute squeak.

“Chloe!”

She breathed harshly for a second or two while Chloe giggled.

“You almost gave me a heart attack …”

Chloe hummed thoughtfully and brought her head over Max’s shoulder to look at what she was.

“Well, it’s a good thing I can get your heart running again …”

Max blushed.

Chloe grinned, and more confidently moved her hands down on Max’s sides, tugging her closer to her front.

“Watchu’ readin’?”

Max sighed, but didn’t mind being tugged like this.

“Nathan’s file … some weird shit in here.”

Photos of the scratches on the wall.

A few police reports.

A disciplinary note about the gun he had.

 _What_.

That actually resulted in something … ?

And –

A note from a psychiatrist …

“You said ‘shit’ by the way.”

Max rolled her eyes.

She turned around and carefully gave the file for Chloe to look over, even if it meant they separated.

“Read for yourself. He’s clearly … got issues, Chloe.”

Chloe frowned, but did read.

“Doesn’t excuse the shit he did.”

Max sighed.

“Maybe not but … does this have to get awful?”

Chloe took the disciplinary note and the physiatrist’s note and put it into her pocket.

Seemed like useful dirt.

Just more stuff that’d embarrass the Prescott family name.

“What are you suggesting, Max?”

Max sighed.

“I don’t know. I just … feel so conflicted. What if he can’t help some of this stuff ... ? Did you even read that note … ? And you’re … blackmailing him … for money?”

Chloe frowned more deeply, closed Nathan’s file, and put it back into the cabinet.

“Don’t side with him, Max. He doesn’t deserve it.”

Max bit her lip.

Chloe sounded cold.

“What if we convinced him to help you find Rachel?”

Chloe sighed.

“Like I haven’t already tried that. He just lies to me about it.”

Chloe turned around to face Max, and Max got right up in front of her.

She took both of Chloe’s hands and squeezed tightly.

“And what if _we_ try? Together? As a team? He’s the only lead we have to finding her, Chloe …”

Max was so close, again.

So warm.

Out of all of the people who deserved her anger, Nathan was surely the most deserving.

Some useless rich prick the world gave everything to.

… except those health issues, even if those didn’t excuse a fucking thing.

… and the discipline for the gun, even if it was light and bullshit.

… and Chloe, constantly harassing him for money, even if he could easily solve that just by fucking giving her the money already.

Ugh.

But Max … did kind of have a point.

He _was_ the last person to see Rachel.

He _had_ to know.

If Chloe killed him or this got too violent, she might never find out what happened to Rachel.

She might never get closure.

She sighed.

“I … don’t know, Max. I guess … with your fucking time powers … we might find a way to convince him.”

Max smiled, and leaned forward to rest her head on Chloe’s chest.

“Thank you.”

They brought their hands to either side of their bodies and melted into one another for a few seconds.

Max intertwined their fingers.

They squeezed.

Chloe closed her eyes and just breathed in Max for a few seconds.

Fuck.

What if they did this?

What if they actually found Rachel?

What if Max magically solved all of this without anyone getting hurt …?

It felt like such an impossible thing, not three days ago …

But Max was … amazing.

She could anything if she put her mind to it.

Maybe that included talking some sense into Nathan.

Maybe that is just one more thing she has in common with Rachel …

What if Max could bring everything back to when nothing hurt?

With Frank okay with her, Nathan not trying to fucking kill her …

And a girlfriend that she could trust the world to …

A girlfriend that she couldn’t even kiss …

Fuck …

 

Eventually, Max separated from her.

“Let’s see what else is in here, while we still can …”

Chloe just kinda looked at her while she snooped some more.

Snoopy didn’t take too long before she started searching Wells’ desk.

Chloe just kinda looked at her with her arms crossed, now.

Max gasped, suddenly.

Chloe blinked.

Max pulled out a plastic bag with ---

A fucking gun ---

And ---

Chloe hurried over to Max.

Holy shit.

Some stuff Nathan had on him …

There was an envelope, some drugs in yet another bag, and the gun, obviously.

Max reached into the bag to pull out the envelope.

It had “c” written on the front …

“Holy shit.”

Max looked up to Chloe.

“It’s full of money.”

Chloe blinked.

“What let me ---”

She took it from Max and counted.

Holy shit.

Nathan had all of the money …

He was going to pay her.

If Chloe hadn’t been such an asshole …

He said he didn’t, but …

Maybe he was just feeling out how Chloe was going to act …

And she wasn’t very diplomatic …

_Fuck._

Max looked up to Chloe and bit her lip.

“Chloe … if we get rid of this … or give it back to him … he might feel like he can tell us about Rachel.”

Chloe just kept on blinking.

This was … something else.

Destroying evidence of Nathan’s wrong doing …

She had the disciplinary note, too …

They could correct his file, maybe?

Wells would obviously still know, but … with no proof … and Mr. Prescott owning his ass, anyway …

“Fuck … Max … this is …”

Max took the plastic bag.

“You have your money. He has his stuff. He’s gotta tell us, after that …”

Somehow, they came out of this with Max being the one wanting to steal, and Chloe being hesitant.

How much context can change a simple action.

“But … he might not get punished. He might just … walk away.”

Max sighed, and crossed her arms.

 

“What’s more important to you, Chloe? Finding Rachel, or getting revenge for her?”

 

Fuck.

Chloe didn’t know.

She raised a hand up to rub at her hair while she just looked down at the wad of cash.

It really was all here.

She really could pay back Frank.

And maybe Nathan really would tell her if she helped him for once, instead of being such an asshole to him.

Not that he didn’t deserve people like acting like an asshole to him …

Ugh.

This was so complicated.

 

Max suddenly groaned and gripped at her head.

A little trail of blood from her nose, heavier breathing.

Chloe recognized it immediately and closed the distance between them to get Max into her arms for some measure of comfort.

Max sighed.

“We need to … leave now, Chloe … David is … about to come in here … and … we can’t talk him down.”

Chloe frowned.

“David’s impossible. Unsurprising.”

Still … Max seemed to be able to talk everyone else down.

Was this Chloe’s fault, too?

There was an awful lot of bad blood between her and David …

And the situation they were in right now looked pretty bad.

David probably wouldn’t believe Chloe was breaking and entering for a good cause …

Ugh.

Chloe felt so weird about everything, all of the sudden.

The new perspective that Nathan, despite months and months of Chloe being a dick to him, was so close to just giving her the money and everything working out …

If only she wasn’t such an asshole …

Max groaned again.

“You can be … impossible … sometimes, too. Let’s just … go … before he catches us.”

Chloe nodded numbly.

“Yeah …”

 

They walked out together, taking the evidence with them.

Max remained buried into Chloe’s side to give her some time to recover from using her time powers.

And she looked so … burdened.

It wasn’t easy to look at before, when she passed out, but …

It felt even worse, now.

Max was physically hurting herself to keep Chloe out of trouble.

Just because she was a difficult, moody asshole.

 

Chloe had to make this up to her.

 

“Hey, Max …?”

Max blinked and tiredly made a humming noise.

“How about before we jet … we stop by the gym? Relax a little in the pool … you could use it after … y’know. Rewinding so much.”

Max sighed contently.

“David might find us …”

She sounded so drained … ugh.

At least she didn’t pass out.

Yet.

Fuck.

“I don’t think he’s expecting anyone to break into Blackwell just to go to the pool, Maxipad. We’ll be fine …”

Max made a cute little content noise and just nodded weakly.

“Whatever you say, Chloe …”

 

Chloe bit her lip.

 

The way to the pool was fairly uneventful.

If David was here, they didn’t see him anywhere – Max must have warned them early enough to avoid him entirely.

And they were pretty quiet, since the whole thing was ostensibly to give Max time to recover after the tremendous stress she put on her body doing the rewinds.

Through the girl’s lockers.

Max finally separated herself from Chloe’s side when they were by the edge of the pool and just crossed her arms.

“My head is killing me …”

Chloe started to take her clothes off and spared Max a look.

“Yeah? Well … I think … that’s why …”

 She spoke very slowly to give her time to finish undressing, and then wantonly canon balled into the pool.

Max giggled gently at the show.

Chloe turned around and splashed some water at Max.

“… you need to relax, and forget about all of this shit.”

Max smiled so gently and rubbed at her arm.

She wasn’t looking directly at Chloe and there was a noticeable amount of blush.

“Uhm … I don’t know if seeing you … half naked … is helping me relax.”

Chloe blushed herself.

That didn’t even really register to Chloe, earlier.

But being almost naked meant something different when they were like this.

She bit her lip.

“Well … how about you join me … then we can both be half naked …”

Max continued to smile.

Chloe splashed a bit more water at her.

She giggled.

“You’re going to ruin these clothes … okay, okay … I’m coming.”

Max started to strip.

Chloe breathed in harshly, suddenly, when Max took off her shirt.

And she looked away, blushing even more.

Damn.

Useless.

This was …

This was getting real.

This was getting serious.

This wasn’t just a playful date kind of thing where they did some impulsive stupid stuff, and nothing really mattered.

This was a serious kind of date where Max got upset at someone for interrupting their time and they’d almost kissed once or twice.

Max was half naked, now, and calmly working her way into the pool to swim along side Chloe.

  

"Why look, an otter in my water ..."

She tried being playful, but it came more breathless than anything.

 

Chloe spared her a look, and at least could look at her now.

She was gorgeous.

Even if Max was scrawny, even if her boobs weren’t that big, even if she didn’t put on a lot of makeup …

None of that shit mattered to Chloe.

Max was just awesome.

Willing to go so far for her, willing to sacrifice so much of her well-being to keep Chloe safe.

Just everything.

Max wanted Chloe to believe she had Chloe’s best interests in mind, now, and it was something Chloe could trust, now.

And there was only one other time Chloe could have trusted that out of someone else.

 

Blushing even more, Chloe playfully splashed at Max once or twice – and she returned it – before she suddenly swam right up in front of her.

She pushed Max against one of the walls of the pool, and they were just –

So close.

Chloe had to make this all up to Max.

She had to prove that all of this effort wasn’t going to waste.

She put her hands on Max’s sides but quickly ran them up to her hands to find them, interlock their fingers, and squeeze them.

They could spend an hour looking at each other’s faces when they were this close, picking out every little detail, and every inch of blush.

Chloe leaned forward –

Max blinked –

She rested her forehead on Max’s own.

They both closed their eyes and just enjoyed the intimacy for a few moments.

“Max …”

Max gulped.

“Yeah …?”

Chloe breathed out calmly against Max’s face.

“Did I ever tell you about this … girl … who suddenly came into my life, one day?”

Max hummed gently.

“I think I’d like to hear about it …”

Chloe squeezed Max’s hands.

Max returned it.

“She’s … amazing. Whenever I’m being weak … she can be strong. Whenever I’m being angry … she can be calm. Whenever I’m cold … she can be warm. I feel like she would do anything for me … and I would do anything for her.”

Max shuddered an uneasy exhale.

Their faces had to be on fire …

“Do you know her name, Max …?”

Max blinked her eyes open.

So did Chloe.

“… Rachel?”

Chloe smiled, just barely.

“It’s you, Max.”

 

Chloe pushed her lips forward just that tiny immoral distance that remained between theirs.

And she kissed Max.

 

It was a quick, but absurdly affectionate thing –

When she pulled away, grinning stupidly –

Max suddenly squeezed her hands and pushed right back into Chloe’s lips.

Chloe was both surprised and not that Max did this, but wasn’t complaining.

Max was … clearly unpracticed.

Chloe felt teeth at various points, and she pushed in with just too much force.

But it didn’t feel wrong kissing Max.

Chloe didn’t feel guilty.

Rachel would understand.

 

For now, Chloe didn’t think about Rachel.

She didn’t think about Nathan, or Kate, or David, or anything else.

She just kept her eyes closed and thought about Max.

How her unpracticed tongue was trying so very hard to impress her.

How her entire face was consumed in cute blush.

How her hair felt when Chloe’s fingers ran through it.

Every single little squeeze Max gave to Chloe’s hand, and vice versa.

The way their bodies subtly gyrated against one another as the making out continued.

 

What a fucking day.


	8. Kate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe suddenly has a family, friends, and comfort again.
> 
> Kate suddenly has a family, friends, and comfort again.
> 
> Kate tries to soothe Victoria's damage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Notice: Suicide TW

Chloe woke up to a very delicate scene, and arrived at it delicately.

In her room.

With Max in front of her.

Them both half naked.

In bed together.

With her arm around her.

Chloe took a moment to just breathe in the smell from Max’s hair, even if it was mostly just the smell of chlorine.

There was still that unyielding familiarity from Max piercing even through the harsh chemicals.

It made Chloe smile very slightly and relax more into the bed.

Yesterday was …

Something else.

It almost had that surreal quality to it that her first real date with Rachel had.

Like she couldn’t believe it actually happened.

Max comes back in her life after so, so long, and does everything she can in such a short order to regain Chloe’s trust.

And regain it she did.

Going along with shooting the gun, going along with her plan to break in, helping her get more information on Nathan and the money …

Chloe knew there weren’t a lot of people who would ride that hard for her.

Maybe even only two.

A simple kind of unburdened trust that Chloe was doing what she thought was best, so Max trusted it was what was best, too.

Even if she had her own take on things, and influenced Chloe’s decisions in some ways.

Max was less vindictive and angry than Rachel.

If the roles were reversed and Max was the one missing and Rachel the one helping her find her, there was no way Rachel would let Nathan get away with this.

She had such a strong sense of justice in the world, and was aggressive when the world didn’t match it.

Even if her morals about stealing and some stuff were looser than the average person, there’s no way she’d let a fucking serial rapist off the hook and try and convince him to help her.

He’d have to burn for his sins.

Some crimes just can’t be forgiven.

Chloe sighed gently.

Not that that anger hadn’t gotten them into some really bad situations, sometimes …

Like Rachel getting stabbed.

Or the one time they more-or-less broke up for a little bit.

Rachel was incredibly protective of her Chloe and tore Eliot a fucking new one for the weird stalker shit he pulled.

Hell, that anger might have been the reason she wasn’t here, anymore …

She could always bring out Chloe’s anger, too …

Their moods were like amplifiers of each other.

If either Rachel or Chloe got angry, then the other would too.

If either of them got sad, or happy, then the other would too.

Max was more like … a balancer.

When Chloe was sad or hurt, Max could be strong and determined.

When Chloe was angry, Max could be gentle and kind.

Max was a lot like Rachel in a lot of ways, particularly in how much trust she put into Chloe and how far she’d go for her, but they weren’t the same person.

And being around Max now was … something else.

She’d learned how to be playful sometimes just like Rachel, and Chloe absolutely loved it.

But she was still Max, she was still dorky.

And it wasn’t lost on her that it took magic time traveling powers before Max resembled anything like Rachel.

Would Chloe still feel like this for her if she didn’t have them?

Would Max agree to half of the shit she did if she couldn’t just rewind when it went sideways?

Maybe …

Maybe if Max wasn’t so dedicated to Chloe.

Maybe if Max hadn’t gone along with the gun shooting.

Maybe if Max refused to let Chloe steal, or gave her a lot of shit for breaking in …

Maybe Chloe wouldn’t be falling for her.

Maybe that’s what she could tell Rachel, when and if she came back.

If things were different, and Max wasn’t so dedicated to Chloe, she wouldn’t feel like she did.

But she just kept on being fucking reminded of how loyal Rachel was to Chloe.

 

Chloe sighed, turned over to lay on her back, and found her phone.

The background was the picture it always was – some shot of her and Rachel being together.

She cycled between a few of them as the days ticked by.

But …

Maybe that didn’t feel right anymore.

She clicked through her phone and set it to some old photo of Max.

Nothing in particular, just … something she had still in her phone for some reason.

Max looked a little dorky, trying to pick the right piece for a Jenga game.

But she had that look of concentration.

And cute mophead hair.

Chloe smiled.

Did this all mean Chloe had moved on from Rachel?

What did that even mean?

Did she stop thinking about Rachel when she moved on?

Or did thinking about her simply no longer hurt?

Did it mean she wasn’t waiting on her beck and call for six months even when she might not come back?

Did it mean giving up on her search for her?

Did it mean finding closure?

No one fucking explained these things to her.

She frowned, slightly, and clicked through her phone some more to message Steph.

_what does it mean to move on from someone_

A response came back pretty quickly.

_You’re up early! This seems like something you should ask your mom. I bet she knows a lot about moving on … you know._

Chloe closed her eyes and sighed gently.

_I don’t want to talk to my mom about this stuff. she doesn’t understand me anymore_

A sort of painful truth.

Joyce always sided with David, not Chloe.

She didn’t listen to her anymore.

_Maybe not, but she can still help you with this. It’ll be difficult, but … I promise you she’ll be so much happier knowing she was able to help you._

Fuck.

Chloe closed her eyes.

It’s not like she wanted to dislike or distrust her mother.

For a while, she was basically the only thing Chloe had.

Before Rachel was in the picture.

Before David was in the picture.

Her phone vibrated again.

_Just try. If she can’t help you, I’ll give you my perspective._

Chloe scoffed a little.

_are you trying to unfuck my family situation or what_

But she was smiling, gently.

_Trying, yeah. ;)_

Steph was such a good friend …

Oh, hey.

Chloe had some new messages that she didn’t bother to check earlier.

Max was awfully distracting, and all.

One from Warren.

_hey Max says you’re dating but you said you’re not?_

Chloe rolled her eyes.

_we're dating now_

Another from Taylor.

_just so you know Nathan is looking for you and Max and he’s kind of pissed so watch out_

Chloe sighed.

The warning was nice, at least.

_thanks_

Another from an unknown number.

_ur so fukin dead_

Chloe rolled her eyes.

But … then the realization that her life was meaningful now hit her.

Nathan’s threats to kill her had more weight …

What would happen to Max if she died?

Ugh.

She deleted the message.

She could have checked other social media stuff, but …

She still kinda didn’t care about that, and just put her phone away for now.

She closed her eyes and relaxed.

 

Eventually, Max turned around to face Chloe – since they had been spooning earlier – and placed one of her hands on Chloe’s exposed belly.

After last night … this intimacy felt very natural, and neither felt the need to blush or felt guilty.

Chloe smiled gently and opened her eyes to look down to Max.

“Hey.”

Max smiled, too.

“Hey …”

Chloe looked off to her ceiling.

“Last night was … magical.”

Max smiled more widely.

“Yeah?”

Chloe nodded, barely.

“Yeah.”

She moved one of her hands to gently stroke her thumb and fingers along the hand that was at her belly.

“I can’t believe we broke in … stole some money … Nathan’s evidence … and then just went into the pool.”

Chloe scoffed gently.

“It feels a little surreal, doesn’t it?”

She looked down to Max.

“When you’re used to doing a bunch of nothing then suddenly you have a crazy day it’s like … woah. Did that really happen? Did I really do that?”

Max blinked and nodded thoughtfully.

“… yeah, exactly.”

Max leaned up just enough to place a kiss on Chloe’s cheek.

Chloe smiled and leaned over to return it.

Max smiled cutely herself.

“So … um.”

Chloe blinked.

“Yeah?”

Max looked away, briefly, before back to Chloe.

“What does this make us … now? I can kiss you whenever I want …?”

Chloe grinned and turned onto her side.

Her arm came around to possessively tug Max into her front, and she got a cute squeak out of her for it.

The same arm guided Max’s head into Chloe’s chest, somewhere, about her collar bones.

“I’m fine with not labeling it for a bit … but … yeah. Whenever you want, Max.”

Max melted into Chloe’s strong, damaged, possessive hold.

She could still feel little scars and marks and scratches all over her arm and see them along her chest.

Still, she placed a kiss to whatever part of Chloe’s body was nearest her lips and sighed into the kiss mark.

“What about Rachel?”

Chloe closed her eyes and let out the longest of exhales.

“Honestly …? I don’t know. I don’t know what I’ll say to her if I find her. I don’t know how to explain this to her. She might not forgive me … she might get angry at you.”

Max sighed wearily.

“Oh … I’m … worth that? Ruining your relationship with her?”

Chloe shrugged.

“I … need, someone, Max. Being all alone was … rough.”

Max frowned ever so slightly.

“So I’m just a void filler?”

Chloe groaned painfully.

“No, Max, don’t be like that … you’re amazing. I … I wonder what you see in me more than what I see in you.”

That was the truth, and it was a truth she sometimes had to deal with, with Rachel, too.

It was hard sometimes to fully understand just what Rachel saw in her …

Max kissed at whatever part of Chloe she could, again, and Chloe decided she really liked the gentle affections from her.

“In fact … if Rachel was in my shoes … I think she’d fall for you, too.”

Rachel would _definitely_ be interested in the time travel powers, at least …

But someone that could so fully dedicate themselves to someone else seemed to be exactly the kind of person Rachel liked.

Maybe she wouldn’t see much in the old version of Max, but … this one, that could shoot guns, wear punky clothes, break into Blackwell … this one was hot.

Max sighed contently.

“I figured she had more of a thing for bad girls …”

Chloe scoffed, grinning just slightly.

“I’m pretty sure she did … but you’re not exactly a good girl, Max. Breaking into Blackwell, stealing money, shooting guns …”

Max sighed more wearily, and broke away from Chloe’s protective grasp – even if she desperately liked it – so their heads would be more aligned.

She blinked.

“I had … no idea I could do all of that stuff. It only took you like … what, two days, too? To draw it out of me?”

Chloe grinned.

“More like one and a half … but hey, what can I say? I had a great teacher.”

She leaned forward to place a brief, but meaningfully affectionate kiss on Max’s lips.

Max eagerly returned it.

Chloe sighed pleasantly, afterwards.

“Well, don’t let me prattle on forever about me … what about you?”

Max blinked.

“Me?”

Chloe nodded.

“What about the girls …”

She hesitated, then rolled her eyes,

“… and I guess _boys_ in your life? Any Rachels?”

Max sighed.

“Not really. I’ve been kinda … pathetic … there. You were my first kiss.”

Chloe blinked, then grinned.

“No way.”

Max looked away and rubbed at the back of her neck.

“Way. I feel so terrible and like ---”

Chloe shushed her with another kiss.

Max’s eyes went back to her.

“--- Shhh. Max. Seriously. Chill. It’s fine. I … punched my v-card and had first kiss like three years ago … didn’t make me special. It wasn’t awesome. And then I kinda … sorta … lost my best friend over it.”

Max blinked.

“Oh. I haven’t had anything so … dramatic. Warren’s … kinda into to me, but he feels more like a brother.”

Chloe grinned.

“Oh yeah? Nerdy boys aren’t your type? Wait ---”

Chloe blinked, having the barest moment of self-reflection,

“--- I bet you’re into bad skater boys, aren’t you?”

Max huffed and frowned playfully.

“I’m not … _that_ transparent, am I?”

Chloe grinned.

“Hmmm, a boy version of me … someone like Justin?”

Max blushed and looked away.

“… yeah. Basically.”

Chloe giggled and placed a gentle kiss on Max’s forehead.

Max blinked and looked back to her.

“Aren’t you like … isn’t this weird to talk about? For you? Because we’re um …”

Chloe blinked.

“Girlfriends? I mean. Justin, and everyone else on campus, is going to fucking know what you are to me. Not this Warren or – no one – is going to dare make a move on you. Since I’ll tear them apart.”

Max smiled barely, not sure if she found the idea vaguely comforting or not.

“Well … Warren certainly hasn’t stopped trying.”

Chloe groaned.

“I’m not fucking surprised. He’s such an Eliot.”

Max blinked.

“Who’s that?”

Chloe looked away, briefly, before looking back to Max.

“When I … didn’t know what I wanted, he was … basically … my boyfriend. My first everything. But after I had sex with him … I just realized … I wasn’t … that into him. And that’s like … not fair on him, right? So … I still tried to be his friend … and keep him at arm’s length … and be … _kinda_ nice to him … when I could …”

She closed her eyes and sighed wearily.

“Then Rachel came into my life and he got … really weird. Started acting like I owed him more because he was so nice and understanding to me for so long … He … tried to convince me to break up with Rachel, even. _Ugh_.”

Max just blinked and quietly absorbed the information.

Some of that … sounded relatable, to Warren, but not all of it.

How much weirder would Warren be if Max hooked up with him and then kept him at arm’s length …?

Good thing she didn’t plan on doing that.

“Why did you … y’know … if you weren’t sure?”

Chloe grunted.

“Because I was like fucking 15-16 at the time? And really, really stupid? And kinda horny? I don’t know. I just thought I needed a boyfriend.”

She shook her head.

“This is all my roundabout way of saying don’t worry if it took you forever to have your first kiss.”

Max blinked, but the two of them smiled.

“It’s better to have it with someone you know you’re into and care for …”

Max looked down to some part of Chloe’s chest, but the look didn’t feel ogling.

“I … didn’t know _for sure_ that I was into girls … until I reunited with you.”

Damn.

They just had to tick off the last box on the ‘Chloe is Max’s Rachel’ comparison …

But still, it made Chloe grin.

“Are you telling me I’m so hot I turned you gay?”

Max scoffed, offended, and playfully hit at some part of Chloe’s chest.

She looked back up to her with a slight blush.

“I had … thought about it before but … nothing serious until you started flirting with me.”

She kissed Chloe on the lips, and Chloe was so into the idea of Max feeling free to do this whenever she wanted to.

“So … I guess.”

Chloe just grinned and flopped over to find her phone again.

“I gotta tell someone about this …”

Max moved with her, placing her hand back on Chloe’s belly and moving her face to her neck and shoulders again.

_hey guess who turned Max gay_

A response didn’t take long.

_That’s so cute!! Is she with you now?_

Chloe grinned.

_I can feel her breathing on my neck_

She lazily moved one of her arms over to rub at Max’s back.

_Awwww! You had a sleep over! I’m so happy for you. Did you kiss, too?_

Chloe closed her eyes to relive it for a second or two.

_yeah. I’ll tell you about it later._

She felt Max move somewhat to find her own phone and start texting herself.

“Who’d you tell?”

Chloe shrugged barely.

“Steph. She knows every little gay detail about me. It’s honestly kind of embarrassing, sometimes …”

_btw can I still say I turned her gay if she’s bi_

Max hummed thoughtfully.

“She sounds like a good friend.”

Chloe sighed pleasantly.

“She absolutely is.”

_If she’s cool with it you can say it. Good rule of thumb._

Chloe yawned and stretched, suddenly.

_cool_

“As much as I like a lazy morning … we actually have shit to do, don’t we?”

Chloe honestly wanted some weed right now, but … it felt like they were so close to uncovering more with Nathan and potentially finding Rachel.

This was the first time in months she felt like she might find Rachel.

Like she was actually making progress.

The weed could wait.

Max grinned.

“I don’t know … I wouldn’t mind cuddling with you for another hour or so …”

Chloe grinned.

“I am such a bad influence on you, Max … don’t you have school?”

Max groaned.

“ _Ugh_. You’re right. I should probably shower … I only smell like chlorine.”

Chloe just kept on grinning.

“You’re hot with a bunch of chemicals in your hair, though, Max …”

Max rolled her eyes.

“That doesn’t count. You always think I’m hot. I’m still showering.”

Damn.

It was a lot harder to get through to Max now that they had made out …

Oh well.

Max feeling like she could kiss her whenever she wanted to was so worth not being able to make her a blushing mess as easily.

Max flopped over on the bed and felt around for her bag until she found her camera.

“Chloe. C’mere. You got a picture of us … I want one too.”

Chloe smiled earnestly, and slid up behind Max.

“Bossy bossy.”

Max rolled her eyes.

But the two of them smiled as Max raised the camera up, pointed it at them, and took the shot.

 

“Are y’all up yet? Max has school!”

 

The two of them groaned.

Max got up, and put her camera back in her bag.

“I’ll shower first?”

She turned to face Chloe.

Chloe grinned, and blushed a little.

“We should … _share_ … y’know.”

Max blinked, but then blushed herself, and extended one of her hands out.

“… oh.”

Oh.

It was more efficient that way, anyway.

 

Chloe got up and took Max’s hand.

They giggled as they walked into the bathroom.

Showering together was a fun experience.

Chloe liked to sing in the shower.

Max thought it was adorable.

There was a certain amount of awkwardness in seeing each other naked, but it passed quickly, and the touch didn’t feel awkward, either.

They couldn’t get that handsy with the time constraint, anyway.

And if Max was a virgin, Chloe kinda wanted to wait a bit, too.

 

Afterwards, Chloe dressed like she always did, but insisted Max wear Rachel’s outfit.

There was … not an uncertain amount of symbolism in it.

Aside the fact Max just looked fucking hot in the clothes, and confident, and proud, it felt like one of the final stages of accepting Max was her girlfriend, now.

To let Max influence the memories of Rachel, and make her clothes smell like her.

The thought process wasn’t entirely conscious, but she was viciously protective of that set of clothes, and letting Max have them meant a whole lot to her.

 

They walked down the steps to sit at the kitchen table.

“Oh, there y’all are. Finally. Max is going to be late at this rate … I’ve been making some lovely pancakes.”

Joyce brought over a set for each of them.

Max smiled pleasantly.

“Thanks, Joyce. They smell delicious.”

Chloe looked at the pancakes, and Max stared at her expectantly again.

“Yeah. Delicious.”

Joyce sighed just slightly, and turned around to walk back into the kitchen.

Chloe bit her lip, and looked up.

“Hey, juh …”

She cleared her throat,

“Mom?”

Joyce blinked, and looked back to Chloe.

“Yes, sweetie?”

Chloe bit her lip.

“What does it mean when you’ve moved on from someone?”

Joyce blinked only about a million times.

“I … that is some _serious_ breakfast table talk, I … not around _guests_ and ---”

Chloe pointedly took Max’s hand and raised it above the table.

She squeezed.

“--- Mom. Max isn’t a guest. She’s family. She stays. Always. Please?”

Joyce crossed her arms, and sighed wearily.

“Okay.”

She got a plate of pancakes herself, and smiled pleasantly as she sat down.

She watched Max and Chloe hold hands for a few seconds before they broke their hands apart to pragmatically start eating.

“When your father died …”

Chloe stiffened, but she already knew this is where the conversation was going to go.

Max felt like she was intruding, slightly … but Chloe didn’t seem to feel the same.

So Max felt more comfortable.

She was part of Chloe’s life now.

“… it was, difficult. I had spent so, so many years learning how to be his second half. Suddenly, things that were … easy, trivial, were just … impossibly difficult, now.”

She sighed, and took a bite of her pancakes to give everyone a few seconds to think.

She wiped her mouth off quickly.

“For a while, I thought I would never be whole again. I kept thinking of your father, and I kept wondering what it’d be like if things were different … if he didn’t need to be in the car, that day … if it could have been avoided, somehow.”

She sighed, and took another bite.

Chloe just listened carefully, realizing why Steph tried to get her to talk to her mom about this …

There was so much to relate to.

It’d been so long since she related to her mother.

“And … a period of time of grief is normal. It really is. It took me … _years_ to learn how to live again without him.”

She looked down to her food.

“And even longer to learn how to love again.”

She took another bite of her food.

“I know you don’t always see eye to eye with your step father … and sometimes, I don’t blame you for that, but … my husband completes me. I knew I was over William, fully, when I stopped wondering what would happen if he lived that day.”

She looked over to Chloe.

“And now … when I think of him … it’s happy. I remember his smile, and …”

Her voice cracked a little bit, and she teared up slightly.

“Uhm. Excuse me.”

She shook her head, and recomposed herself for a few seconds.

Then, there was a deep, heavy sigh.

Chloe just watched her silently, still picking at some food.

That might have been the only time she saw her mother get emotional over William in years …

“… it’s not … _always_ happy, I guess you can see … I don’t know if the pain of him going away ever stops. I just think … it just gets dull. Easy to work with, and cope with … your father will always be a part of me … but not the _only_ part, anymore.”

Joyce took another bite of her food, before sighing severely.

Chloe and Max were just deathly silent.

Joyce looked to Chloe.

“Does … all of that help you at all, dear? I know I ramble, sometimes …”

Chloe was …

Speechless.

She nodded, numbly.

“I … think it does … actually. Thanks … mom.”

It gave her a lot to think about, at least …

Joyce suddenly felt like she could ask a question she’d been wanting to for months.

“How are you getting along without Rachel? We don’t really talk anymore …”

Chloe still nodded, numbly again, but pointedly found Max’s hand to squeeze it above the table, once more.

Joyce saw it, and understood how pointed it was.

“I … I know … we don’t …”

Max hadn’t seen Chloe so halting and fragile, before.

This still felt a little like intruding … but Chloe kept affirming she wanted Max here with the squeezing.

Maybe Max gave her some strength as Chloe did to Max.

“And … I don’t know. I thought … my life was over … when Rachel disappeared … but …”

Chloe looked over to Max.

“Then Max came home …”

Max blushed and smiled.

That felt … really, really nice to hear.

Joyce smiled, herself.

“I see … are you two …?”

Chloe squeezed Max’s hand.

She nodded and looked back to her mother.

“Yeah. What did you say? She completes me.”

Joyce teared up and brought a hand up to her lips for a few seconds, once again recomposing.

“I am so happy for you two, then …”

She could barely finish the sentence she was so overcome with tears of joy.

Her daughter was back.

 

The three of them finished a family breakfast.

It was the first time in months Joyce felt like Chloe’s mother, again.

And this felt like home, again.

And her family had another member, again.

Sometimes, the way to feel understood is to understand others, first.

 

On the ride to Blackwell, Chloe was pretty pensive.

The conversation with her mother, this morning, gave her a lot to think about.

Really, all of the conversations this morning did.

It was crazy to think just a few days ago how different everything was.

Chloe had mostly gotten over her father’s death through Rachel’s guidance, but it still felt really nice to know that her mother still cared for him, still thought he was part of her, still teared up sometimes, thinking of him.

Was that how Rachel was to Chloe, now …?

Was Rachel always just going to be part of her, in this diffuse, hard-to-pick apart way?

Even if she never saw her again?

Even if she was dead …?

 

Chloe parked the truck correctly, this time.

She looked over to Max.

“So … I need to pay off Frank, and we need to deal with Nathan. I could go pay off Frank now, but …”

She looked forward.

“Taylor said Nathan was looking for us … and I don’t want you to be alone around him, Max.”

Max nodded thoughtfully.

“So … stay on campus, and we visit Frank after school?”

Chloe smiled.

“Exactly what I was thinking. I’ll crash in your room and come find you between classes so he can’t pick you out alone.”

Max smiled.

They found each other’s hand to squeeze it, and leaned forward for a quick kiss on the lips.

Then, Chloe took Nathan’s evidence and shoved it into her jacket.

Being on campus with this stuff was obviously dangerous, since it almost got Nathan kicked out, and he was fucking invincible from the influence his dad had.

So Chloe had to be careful, and try and avoid David.

 

The first half of the day was pretty uneventful.

They did exactly as they planned, and Chloe managed to avoid getting caught.

Though her being on campus, and particularly how possessive she was of Max, did certainly make waves in gossip.

In the down times in Max’s room, smelling her sheets, Chloe mostly just answered texts from others.

Hearing and swapping stories from Steph, handling Taylor wanting to know every little detail, telling Warren to buzz off since Max was hers now.

She even fielded a text from Victoria.

_dykes go to hell you know_

Chloe only had to roll her eyes.

_you're the gayest girl I’ve ever seen_

Like she was going to forget how Victoria called Rachel cute that one time.

 

It was about lunch time when it started to rain, which was annoying, since Chloe didn’t have an umbrella.

She stole one of Max’s many nearly-identical hoodies and layered, instead.

The hoodie would be her umbrella, since she only had to spend a little bit of time in the rain, anyway.

She was going to meet Max in front of the dorms and then they’d head off to get some lunch.

But things were … clearly, noticeably different, the second Chloe stepped outside.

It felt like half of the people on campus were gathered out here, staring up into the dreary sunless sky.

Chloe blinked.

Why were a bunch of people …

She took a few steps forward and turned around to follow their eyes –

Kate.

Oh, shit.

She was standing on the edge.

Was she going to –

Chloe’s eyes widened.

“Chloe!”

Max suddenly appeared, out of nowhere --- time travel, probably --- and grasped Chloe’s hand tightly.

The color drained out of the world around them, to the point where even the rain stopped dead in its tracks.

Max groaned painfully.

Chloe looked over to her.

“Max …”

Max shook her head viciously.

Her breathing was heavy.

“No time … we need to get up there … and talk her down.”

Chloe bit her lip.

“Max … you’re ---”

Max just grunted harshly again.

“Move!”

Max could barely walk, but thankfully, Chloe was here to be her strength right now.

Max just breathed harshly into Chloe’s side, occasionally making horrible, shuddering, pained noises as they made their way back into the dorm and up to the roof.

She hoped Max didn’t overdo it …

Damn, and Chloe thought the situation with Kate was going okay …

They broke out into the roof, and Max unpaused time.

The color came back into the world.

The rain started to fall again.

Max coughed harshly, and Chloe desperately hoped she wasn’t coughing up blood.

Her nose was certainly bleeding, and she was breathing like she just ran a marathon.

All of her weight was in Chloe’s side.

But Chloe was still strong, and they still took a few more steps forward.

Kate turned around.

“Stop …”

They did, though Chloe bit her lip.

Damn it.

She was really going to do it.

She was so close to the edge.

“You don’t … want to do this … Kate …”

Max’s voice was so burdened, so harsh, so breaking and uneasy.

It pained Chloe just to hear it.

Fuck, this was taking so much out of Max to time travel.

Fixing these mistakes were slowly killing her.

Chloe simply couldn’t look at Max right now, with how pained she was, so she just looked over to Kate instead.

Kate frowned.

“I do … Max. This is the only way out. The only way I’ll find … peace.”

Max cleared her throat.

“You ---”

But then she coughed up something that was _definitely_ blood and spat some of it on the floor.

Fuck.

Instead of talking, Max buried herself more into Chloe’s side and whispered into her ear.

“Help me … talk her down.”

Chloe spared her the most fragile look.

“Max, I … I can’t … I’m not …”

The fire in Max’s eyes was back.

It almost made Chloe shudder to look at it.

“You **have** to …”

Fuck.

Chloe was so not a people person …

And she was probably a good chunk of the reason Kate was this low to begin with.

Still.

She had to try.

For her girlfriend.

For Kate.

She looked forward to Kate again.

“Kate … what will killing yourself do?”

Kate still frowned.

“It’ll stop all of this pain … and misery … it’ll make everyone go quiet … and I’ll be at peace.”

Chloe frowned herself.

“It won’t stop any pain! It’ll just … fuck. Spread it around. Everyone who cares for you will suffer so much …”

Kate looked down and sighed wearily.

“I know … it’s a good thing I don’t really have anyone who cares about me.”

Max murmured uselessly for a second or two, then cleared her throat.

“Kate’s … family … her sisters … father …”

Chloe nodded.

She just had to turn Kate’s words against her.

“That’s bullshit, Kate, and we both know it! You have family that cares about you. Your sisters … your father … and friends. Like us. We … we’ll never be the same without you.”

Kate hesitated.

She looked back up.

“I … maybe my family, but … Max doesn’t … really care. She hasn’t answered my phone calls and ---”

Chloe shook her head again.

“--- that’s my fault, Kate! I … _fuck_. Whenever someone would call Max, I’d get … difficult, and … suspicious and _jealous_ and --- it’s not your fault. It’s _mine_! I bitched out Max until she couldn’t answer her phone. I’m … sorry.”

Fuck.

Chloe was getting emotional.

It felt weird to … talk about herself like this.

But she knew she was wrong, all of the way back when she backtalked Max into not answering Kate’s call.

She was just too fucking consumed in her selfishness to see it, then.

Kate hesitated some more, clearly considering.

“I … didn’t know that. I thought she just didn’t care … why else wouldn’t she believe me?”

Max murmured again.

“Proof … Nathan and the gun …”

She sounded so tired, so drained now … fuck.

She probably couldn’t do anymore rewinding if she tried …

And if Max lost Kate, Chloe knew it would hurt her so badly.

And hurt Chloe, via extension.

“Kate, we … we’ve always believed you. Max just … we saw Nathan with a gun at some point, and … it seemed like reporting him didn’t do anything. But … we were _wrong_. We saw it did something. I was … _wrong_ to tell you to not go to the police. Doing … _something_ , _anything_ … is better than nothing … it’s just … harder.”

Max cleared her throat and tried desperately to project her voice as best she could.

“I was so worried, Kate … Wells was so scary … I thought I was going to get suspended … I didn’t want that to happen to you … I just wanted … you to have something stronger … to avoid that …”

Kate hesitated again.

Chloe felt like they were getting through to her.

“Okay … maybe you had your reasons … maybe you do care, but … my life is over, anyway. There’s no hope for me, anymore. No one’s ever going to date me. No one’s ever going to trust me in a relationship. No one’s ever going to marry me. I’m … just … some chewed-up bubblegum! Already used and spat out!”

That might be the only time Chloe had heard Kate raise her voice.

Damn, this video was really getting to her …

Max murmured into Chloe’s ear again.

“I would date her … if … I knew … she wanted to …”

Chloe nodded.

“That’s not true, Kate! There’s always … there’s … _always_ hope. Even after Rachel disappeared … I never lost hope. Even though I got … close, sometimes. And you know what? I still haven’t found her, but … I found something else.”

Chloe pointedly took Max’s hand with her arm not supporting her, and squeezed it tightly.

“I … moved on. I know … some things can seem … impossible … in the moment, but. Nothing is. The pain doesn’t go away, it just gets … _diffuse_ , and … you … you learn to deal with it.”

How weird it was she sounded just like her mother, this morning.

Chloe put the thoughts out of her head.

Kate whimpered a bit.

“You really think I can move on from this? And people will … eventually … stop caring?”

Chloe nodded.

Kate frowned.

“I just … I can’t see that, Chloe. Who would want to …? After all of this …?”

Chloe shook her head.

“Max says she would … if she um, wasn’t already taken.”

Squeeze.

Max returned it, and nodded what she could from the position.

Kate blushed barely, and brought a hand up to her mouth.

When she brought it down,

“Oh, Max, you’re so sweet sometimes …”

Chloe and Max took a step or two closer, and Chloe broke one of her hands away from Max to extend it to Kate.

“Please … let’s just … talk about this … somewhere else. I know a thing or two about … pain.”

Kate closed her eyes, hesitated, but nodded, very gently.

“… okay.”

She stepped down.

Max smiled.

Chloe smiled.

Kate smiled.

 

Kate was taken away to the hospital by ambulance.

They considered tagging along, but Max needed some time to crash, and they figured it would be … hard … to explain Max’s condition to the doctors.

So instead, afterwards, Chloe and Max just crashed in Max’s room.

She was passed out asleep the second she hit the sheets.

That was okay, though.

Chloe felt … really good.

Even if Max was exhausted and that conversation filled Chloe up with … difficult feelings.

She still did good, for once.

Her and Max weren’t just going on silly random adventures, tagging crap and stealing money …

They were saving lives.

Chloe just watched Max sleep, and hoped that she would eventually find peace, and be as content as Chloe was, with the knowledge she too was making a positive change in the world.

She held her girlfriend so tightly.

 

Some time later, someone knocked on Max’s door.

Chloe groaned, and somehow was the first to get up and answer it, blinking tiredly.

Victoria.

Chloe consciously stiffened up and placed her hand on the door frame possessively to keep Victoria from just barging in past her.

“What do _you_ want?”

Victoria looked … different.

Her arms were crossed, but her hands were up higher, almost to her shoulders, like she was hugging herself or something.

She was looking down and away.

“Wells wants us in his office. Told me to come fetch you guys.”

Her voice sounded so different, too … drained.

Exhausted.

Sad?

Chloe blinked.

“I don’t think Max is … getting up right now.”

Victoria just sighed and turned on her heel.

“I’m sure you can carry her. You’ve always been strong like that.”

Was that a compliment?

From Victoria?

Chloe just kept on blinking, and looked back to Max.

She closed the door and worked her way back into Max’s back to tightly hold her again, and exhaled harshly into Max’s hair.

“Hey … babe … we gotta get up.”

Max stirred and made such a pained noise.

“Five more minutes …”

Chloe smiled, barely.

“Wells wants us. C’mon. I’ll help you.”

 

It was difficult, and Chloe was starting to get sore from all of the support she was offering, but still, she helped Max to Wells’ office.

How different it felt during the day …

Inside, Wells, Nathan, Mr. Jefferson, David, Max, Victoria, and Chloe all stood in a loose circle.

Wells took his seat when Chloe and Max arrived, and cleared his throat.

“Now then. We’re all aware of some … recent events, lately.”

The group mumbled quietly.

Max mostly just remained melted into Chloe’s side.

Victoria and Nathan were surprisingly close, too, with Victoria burying her face into Nathan’s side similarly.

They weren’t holding hands, like Max and Chloe, but, still …

Mr. Jefferson just stood with his arms crossed, gently.

David was over there in military-style parade rest, as though the position mattered anymore.

Principal Wells breathed in deeply.

“I know this is difficult for all of us. But. If you’re in this room … it’s because we’ve found Kate’s suicide letter … and you all have been implicated in it.”

He looked up to the ceiling, briefly, before back down again.

“Including me.”

He looked around to everyone, and everyone had their own reactions varying from shocked to completely neutral, since duh.

“As we all know, some … heroics have kept Kate … with us. But this is not something that can be relied upon in the future. Therefore … I want us all to take … the rest of the week off, to reflect on our decisions in handling Kate.”

He sighed wearily.

“There are crisis counselors available if it is so needed. I certainly advise setting up an appointment. On Monday, I will be setting up one on one appointments …”

He looked briefly to Chloe,

“… with those of us who are still _supposed_ to be on campus …”

Then back to scanning everyone else,

“… and we will review your personal implication on the subject matter. Some of these claims violate student ---”

He looked over to Jefferson and David,

“--- and _employee_ handbook guidelines, so … disciplinary action may be required. I will be quite interested to hear everyone’s side of what happened so we can get a better understanding of the truth.”

He folded his hands together and bowed his head for a few seconds.

“This could have gone a lot worse. Hopefully we can take it upon ourselves to learn from this, and avoid the situation in the future. Now, in case there aren’t any questions … dismissed.”

There weren’t any questions.

 

It was a kind of dull shock for everyone as they walked out of his office.

When everyone was gone, Wells locked the door to his office, sighed wearily, and started a glass of wine, just re-reading Kate’s note again and again.

Outside of the office, Nathan and Mr. Jefferson looked the least phased, with Jefferson just walking off coldly.

At least Nathan and Victoria stuck around in the hallways.

Chloe and Max started to walk away themselves, since Max wanted to rest and visit Kate, but …

“Hey.”

Nathan barked a coarse thing to the two of them.

Chloe frowned, and turned to face him, still with Max in her side, and still holding her hand.

“We need to talk.”

Chloe frowned.

They _did_ need to talk.

Just …

“We do, but … not now. We’re going to visit Kate.”

Nathan frowned and crossed his arms.

Victoria was still buried into his side.

“Then when? I’m not waiting … forever.”

Chloe sighed.

“Tomorrow. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Thursday was cutting it close to the storm …

She just hoped this matter could be completely resolved in just one day.

Nathan’s frown deepened.

“I’m not waiting that long.”

Victoria sighed and pulled herself out of Nathan’s side.

She still looked miserable, which was whatever.

She deserved to for her part in all of this.

“Nathan. Not _now_. You’ll get your talk tomorrow …”

She looked up to Chloe, and Chloe finally saw why Victoria was looking away so much.

Her eyes were red and irritated and some of her makeup was running, as though she had been crying.

“… we need to visit Kate, now.”

Nathan just scoffed miserably.

“ _You_ can visit her. I want nothing to do with that … judgmental whore.”

Max frowned deeply, and shuddered a little.

So did Chloe.

The thought that they might have a peaceful conversation with him seemed more and more remote …

Even if it looked like Victoria cared somewhat about this whole stuff, her influence seemed to be marginal on him.

Victoria looked back to Nathan.

“ _Nate_ …”

He just shook his head.

“Don’t ‘ _Nate’_ me about this. Whatever. I’m bailing.”

He looked to Chloe.

“Tomorrow. No later.”

Chloe met his gaze.

“Tomorrow. No later.”

He closed his eyes, shoved his hands into his jacket, and coldly walked off.

 

Victoria bit her lip and watched painfully as he went away.

 

David finally came out of the receptionist’s office, looking down himself.

He almost ran into Max and Chloe, but cleared his throat and stepped to the side.

“Hell of a thing you two did …”

His voice had this distant, regrettable tone to it.

Max frowned.

She wasn’t about to forget his contribution to this whole affair.

“You shouldn’t have been … picking on her.”

David crossed his arms and looked up to Max.

“How’d you know about that? … never mind, it doesn’t matter now. I was doing what I thought was best to prevent this … stuff … from happening.”

Chloe frowned, herself.

“Then come with us and apologize to Kate. Since you were fuckin’ wrong, dude, and she deserves to hear that.”

She looked over to Victoria,

“Even Victoria is coming with us. Right?”

The three of them looked to Victoria, who looked down again at the stares, not handling them well.

She miserably walked up aside Max and Chloe.

“… yeah.”

David sighed wearily and started walking away, uncrossing his arms.

“Maybe later. I need to … think. About things.”

The three of them frowned, but no one could compel him, anyway, so he just continued walking away.

“Dick.”

 

One of the only good things about Chloe’s truck was the three abreast seating.

Even if Victoria complained miserably about being forced into such a beat-up junker, she still got in anyway, and very obviously closed herself off physically the entire ride there, just crossing her arms and leaning against the passenger side door.

That was fine.

Chloe didn’t want her to talk anyway.

But Max certainly wanted her to apologize to Kate, even if she might not accept it.

It was just a shame that Nathan and David felt differently.

… maybe not Nathan.

Still, the three of them were pensive the entire way to the hospital, just thinking about everything.

 

Chloe never liked hospitals.

It gave her … bad memories.

Parts of her life she’d rather not think about.

Max had recovered more from her time travel use earlier to tug Chloe along more into the hospital.

Victoria followed with some companionable distance behind them.

 

Outside of Kate’s door, Max stopped and turned to face the other two.

“Let me … talk to her first. And … I’ll drag you two in if I think she can handle it.”

Victoria frowned, but nodded and crossed her arms.

It probably would be better if Max warmed Kate up to the idea of talking to her …

“Fine.”

Chloe felt conflicted about this all.

She was part of the conversation – most of it even – that helped to save Kate.

She deserved to talk to her, too.

But if Max wanted some alone time with her … whatever.

“Alright.”

 

Max smiled, gently, and entered Kate’s room.

That just left Victoria and Chloe, awkwardly looking at each other.

Quiet.

“So … change of heart?”

Victoria groaned, and looked away from Chloe to some part of the floor.

She was quiet and hesitated for entirely too long.

“… she wasn’t supposed to get that bad. She wasn’t supposed to …”

She frowned, sighed, and looked up to Chloe.

“… We thought she was just … acting out for attention. Trying to … divert attention away from her true colors being revealed.”

Chloe blinked.

“True colors?”

Victoria nodded pleasantly.

“Most of the time, she’s all judgmental and closed-off, like she’s better than you … yet at one of our parties … how quick that changes, and how quick her mouth finds its place on others. Like a regular old whore …”

Chloe frowned and crossed her arms.

“Kate was drugged, Victoria. That wasn’t her true self.”

Victoria blinked, but then frowned.

“Funny time for _you_ to care about that. When _I’m_ drugged it’s no big deal … but when _she’s_ drugged she gets all of the fucking sympathy in the world. _Ugh_.”

Chloe blinked herself.

… damn, old memories.

She looked away from Victoria and sighed wearily, rubbing at the back of her head.

“… that seemed so harmless, in the moment … and Rachel … really wanted that part.”

Victoria similarly looked away, down to the floor.

“… well it wasn’t. It was … fucking terrifying. Waking up cold … and alone … and you fucking drew on my face you … little bitch.”

 

Quiet.

It was pretty awkward.

Eventually,

“So … we both fucked up, then.”

 

Victoria sighed.

“I guess so.”

They finally looked to one another.

“I’m … sorry, Victoria. Some perspective … really changes that whole thing.”

Victoria smiled just barely, and Chloe never remembered Victoria smiling.

“It does, doesn’t it …?”

 

The door to Kate’s room opened.

“Um … you two can come in. Just … no moodiness. Be nice.”

The two nodded.

“I’m _not_ nice. But whatever. I’ll try.”

Victoria’s quip earned the smallest of amused sounds out of Chloe.

At least the bitch was honest.

 

Max quickly took her place by Kate’s hospital bed again, carefully holding one of her hands.

Chloe went to the window and crossed her arms.

Victoria brought one of the chairs from the room closer to the bed, and sat down miserably, with her face looking anywhere but to Kate and Max, and her arms crossed desperately tight.

“Hello, Victoria …”

Kate spoke first, and she sounded so gentle.

Her expression was soft but mostly neutral.

Max kept gently stroking Kate’s hand.

“Kate, I’m …”

Fuck.

It looked like it physically pained Victoria to get this out.

She sighed, uncrossed her arms to just place her hands plainly on her legs, and looked to Kate, finally.

“… sorry. You didn’t deserve that … bullying.”

Kate smiled, gently.

“I accept your apology, Victoria.”

Max blinked.

“Really?”

Chloe made an amused sound, and Victoria shot her a dirty look, but the three of them soon looked back to Kate.

Kate nodded pleasantly.

“Max … I already told you, haven’t I? It’s not my place to judge people for their actions. That’s the Lord’s job. I am just … a servant, trying to spread the Good News. If Victoria wants her forgiveness … she has it.”

Max hummed thoughtfully at how consistent Kate’s world view was.

Kate looked back to Victoria.

“And I’m so … so very happy she wants my forgiveness.”

Victoria frowned deeply, and went so miserably quiet for a second or two.

“I wish my father thought like you did.”

Chloe blinked.

Max blinked.

Kate blinked.

Victoria groaned and sat up straight, crossing her arms and looking away from everyone again.

“He would … be quite upset at me … and find it unforgivable … if a video of me doing what you did surfaced.”

Thinking about it …

Chloe hadn’t recalled seeing Victoria ever posting pictures of her with … anyone.

She had to have had a boyfriend at some point, right …?

Or maybe a girlfriend …?

Max was mostly just stunned at seeing this … vulnerability out of Victoria, especially exposed to her, Chloe, and Kate.

Kate frowned.

“Would he use scripture to justify it?”

 Victoria nodded slowly.

“Probably … I imagine I’d get a nice … fancy … _fucking_ … letter … highlighting the _exact_ line I had … _fucking_ … violated.”

Kate sighed wearily and closed her eyes for a second or two.

“It pains me to see Christians using scripture to make others feel awful … it’s so totally missing the point of Christ’s teachings …”

Victoria snapped to looking at Kate.

 

“Then what’s the fucking point of it if you’re not using it to judge everyone?!”

 

Anger.

 

Chloe blinked.

Max blinked.

Kate blinked.

Victoria breathed harshly for a second or two, then stood up suddenly.

“I … I need to leave.”

Kate looked at her sadly.

“Victoria … please stay. My mother is … similarly difficult. But you can’t lose faith just because some people have … lost their way.”

She looked to Max, and Max looked to Kate, and they squeezed each other’s hand.

“Right, Max? Like you said.”

She looked over to Chloe.

“And like you said … Chloe. There’s always hope. For something … better.”

Chloe blinked, but smiled, barely.

It felt nice to think she had a positive impact on Kate …

Even if she was still trying to piece together Victoria’s words, here, and fit them with the bitch she knew Victoria to be.

 

Victoria went quiet in consideration, still standing.

“I don’t see how this can get better …”

 

Chloe suddenly pushed herself off from the window and walked behind her, closer to the bed.

She cleared her throat, and all eyes were on her.

“If you want to feel better about all of this … _bullshit_ … then help us find Rachel. You’re in the best position to convince Nathan to tell the truth.”

She uncrossed her arms.

“We can put a stop to all of this. As soon as we stop Nathan.”

Victoria sighed wearily and looked down to the floor.

“Nate is … I’m so concerned. I feel like I’m losing him. These last six months have been … so hard.”

She looked up.

“Do you think … whatever this ‘truth’ … is … will help Nathan feel better?”

Chloe shrugged.

“Only one way to find out.”

Victoria smiled sadly.

“Impulsive as ever, Chloe …”

It almost sounded endeared, if Chloe didn’t know better.

 

Quiet.

Victoria was clearly considering.

 

Max got up from her place next to Kate and placed her hand on Victoria’s shoulder.

Victoria jumped from the attention, but did smile slightly as she saw it was Max.

“Victoria … please. I think … you’re the only one who can talk to him. Join us tomorrow. We can put so much light in the world … you can do so much good … if you try. I know you can. You can be anything if you put your mind to it.”

Chloe smirked very slightly at Max reusing some of her own words.

Victoria had herself one more sigh.

“O-okay … I’ll try. Maybe it’ll give him some … peace. Just … no one can get hurt. I don’t … Nathan can’t get hurt.”

Chloe frowned, but held her tongue.

Nathan deserved to get hurt for what he had done.

Max noticed Chloe’s reaction, even if Victoria didn’t, since she was still looking at Max, and bit her lip for a second or two.

“Thank you.”

Chloe noticed that Max didn’t confirm that no one would get hurt, and it put her more at ease.

Maybe Max was coming around to the idea that Nathan deserved it …

Or fuck, maybe she just rewound and found the best thing to say that appeased the most people.

Ugh.

Hard to tell, sometimes, where Max began and ended with her time travel powers …

 

Victoria cleared her throat and breathed in deep, suddenly.

“Now … if you don’t mind … I’d like some alone time with Kate, please … to talk about her mother. And my father.”

 

Max and Chloe exchanged a look.

Max looked to Kate, who blinked in surprise, but smiled warmly.

“That would be … nice.”

 

The four of them shared a brief smile.

Victoria took Max’s old position, though didn’t hold Kate’s hand.

 

Not until Chloe and Max left the room, anyway.

 

Outside of the room, Max once again took her place by her girlfriend’s side.

“I think she’s going to be okay …”

Chloe smiled.

“Who?”

Max smiled and looked up to Chloe.

“Everyone.”

She leaned up on her tippy toes to give Chloe a brief, but very affectionate kiss on her lips.

Chloe was happy to return it.

They walked calmly after separating from the kiss.

But …

Chloe had a nagging thought, still, and it had been bugging her for a while.

“Max …?”

Max blinked and looked up again.

“Chloe?”

Chloe frowned.

“Whatever happens with Nathan … tomorrow … promise me … if I hurt him … you won’t take it back.”

Max blinked, and her expression became sad.

“Chloe …”

Chloe frowned.

“Max, please.”

Max closed her eyes, breathed in deep, and nodded slowly.

“I promise … Chloe.”

She pointedly took Chloe’s hand while they walked, squeezing it tightly.

 

Somehow, this day was even crazier than the last.

Victoria, Nathan, Kate, Max …

But with Max’s assurances, she at least breathed a bit more easily.

Max was still on her side.

Of course she was.

 

They passed by David on the way back out to their truck.

Chloe had no words for him, and he none for her.

But Max spared him a brief smile, and he returned it.

 

Sometimes, the light is hard to find, but it is always there.

Cast some light, and you’ll be alright.

For now.


	9. Rachel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe tells a story about Rachel.
> 
> Frank tells a story about Rachel.
> 
> Max tells a story about Rachel.
> 
> Max meets Rachel.

Chloe sat on the hood of her truck, in the junkyard, smoking a cigarette carelessly while Max was a dork and took some photos of her.

They were killing time.

Frank was supposed to be here already, but Chloe knew sometimes he could get caught up in his deals.

And it’s not like she could complain to her plug about not being on time.

Then what?

He’d give her bad drugs?

Pissing in the wind.

Plus, Chloe kinda didn’t care right now, anyway, with the cigarette providing the relaxation she needed.

This week had been so damn crazy.

After the umpteenth picture Max took from the umpteenth silly pose, she sighed gently, put her camera and shots into her bag, and sat down on the hood of the truck next to Chloe.

She coughed gently the next time Chloe exhaled some smoke, which made her smirk a little.

That was cute.

“Do you have to smoke?”

Chloe scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Max was too pure.

“Yeah, basically.”

Max frowned.

“You’ll get like … cancer, and stuff.”

Chloe just shrugged.

She expected some moralizing about her vices _eventually_.

Go figure Max would wait until after she had already made out with her.

“I’m here for a good time, not a long time.”

Max scoffed and shook her head, gently.

She looked away and hesitated.

“What’s it even like? Um. To smoke, and drink, and stuff.”

Chloe finished her cigarette with one more forceful inhale and exhale and flicked it into the junkyard somewhere.

She started to sway her boots – since Max insisted she _be still_ when shooting and she wasn’t anymore – and leaned back more into the hood of the truck, placing her hands far behind her body and relaxing some more.

“In a word? Nice. In two? Nice, but unfair.”

Max blinked and looked back to Chloe.

“Unfair?”

Chloe nodded and looked at Max carefully.

Now that Chloe wasn’t actively smoking Max inched a bit closer to just affectionately rub at Chloe’s thighs while she spoke, and Chloe appreciated the gentle affections.

“Yeah. Like … okay.”

Chloe breathed in deeply, coughing just once, and sat up straight.

“No one ever tells you that when you’re drunk, everything is okay. You don’t … you don’t really care. You don’t really feel pain. You don’t really get sad, or focus on your life, or think about shit that’s gone wrong, or … any of that.”

Max went quiet in consideration.

Chloe leaned forward some more, slumping even, with her elbows resting heavily on her knees.

Max thoughtlessly shifted her affection to Chloe’s back and shoulders, and Chloe still appreciated it for all it was worth.

Max was so warm and tender.

“You just exist. There’s no … pressure behind your eyes, there’s no … ache in your head, there’s no feeling that … everything’s gone wrong, and your life is over, and … ugh.”

Chloe sighed.

“It’s unfair, because other than the fact it’s literally poison, being drunk is the best thing ever. You just don’t care, and the day goes by, and then you can just kill time until you can get drunk again, so it gives you something to look forward to.”

Max frowned.

“You have things to look forward to, don’t you?”

Chloe shrugged and spared Max a look back for a second or two.

“With you around, sure …”

The two of them shared a warm smile.

Then Chloe smirked, and exhaled, amused, and looked forward again.

“Otherwise? Not really. Things were … bad … for a while … after Rachel was kidnapped. I’m pretty sure I’ve already fucked up my liver and lungs.”

Max sighed, wearily.

“Did you start when she disappeared?”

Chloe looked back again.

“Smoking or drinking?”

Max shrugged.

“Either or?”

Chloe smirked and looked forward again.

“Well, I started smoking forever ago because it was cool. Smoking … actually kind of just sucks, but, it has a nice calming effect on your nerves. When you’re so full of anxiety and adrenaline your body is just … shaking, like a leaf in the wind, and you know you’re overwhelmed … smoking takes the edge off. It’s nice.”

Max frowned some more.

“But unfair, since it kills you.”

Chloe laughed.

“Now you’re getting it. Yeah. I’m pretty good with smoking, at least.”

She sat up straight and shook her head.

“Just the weed and alcohol, really. I can stop smoking whenever.”

Max made a flat sound.

“What about the weed?”

Chloe looked over to Max and wrapped an arm around to tug her more into her side.

Max didn’t mind, and rested her head somewhere on Chloe’s person, about her shoulders or whatever, and the two of them just looked forward together.

“Started a while ago, too. Weed’s nice because you can just … do nothing, all day long, and still be happy. If you want to just … lay, and think about stuff … weed’s great for that.”

Max made a thoughtful sound.

“But it’s unfair, because …?”

Chloe thought about it for a few seconds.

“Weed’s actually pretty much just a good thing, actually. I guess if I had to fault it for something is if you have a plug that hooks you up with weed … he can probably hook you up with other stuff, too.”

Max frowned.

“Do you do … other stuff, too?”

Chloe shook her head.

“Not anymore. Not since …”

She then frowned, and went quiet.

Max blinked.

“Not since …?”

Chloe sighed.

“Not since Rachel disappeared.”

Max blinked.

What.

She carefully sat herself up to stare plainly at Chloe, and Chloe looked plainly at her in return, though her face was a little concerned.

“Rachel made you do drugs?”

Chloe shook her head viciously.

“ _No_. She didn’t … make me, just … they were around, and … she did a lot. And … I didn’t want to be left out … sometimes … so …”

Max bit her lip.

“She did a lot of drugs …?”

Chloe nodded slowly.

“She uh. Yeah.”

Chloe looked forward, went quiet for a few moments, and sighed wearily.

“Max, you know that … sometimes … people aren’t that perfect?”

Max smiled ever-so-slightly, despite the subject matter.

“Really? I thought you were perfect in every way, Chloe.”

Chloe laughed, and it felt nice to have Max flirting and complimenting her, and it felt even better to not feel guilty this was a thing in her life now.

“… yeah. Well. Rachel was … amazing, in every way, but …”

Chloe shook her head, and sighed again.

“She was _so_ eager to leave … _so_ desperate to leave … she found … other, escapes, sometimes.”

Max sighed herself.

“Oh, Rachel …”

Chloe nodded, gloomily.

“It’d always be like … well, my life is going to shit, but … at least tonight can be great. I can’t feel my face, but I don’t want to, anyway.”

Max bit her lip.

“’I’m here for a good time, not a long time.’”

Chloe laughed again, but it was sadder and more wistful, if a laugh could be such a thing.

“… yeah. It’s such a fucking shame, too.”

Max hummed thoughtfully.

“Why didn’t you guys leave? You have your truck, and … it’s not like you care about borrowing money … or stealing it.”

Chloe smirked and looked back to Max.

“Despite all _my_ perfection, yeah. There’s uh … a long, shitty story that goes with it. You sure you want to hear it?”

Max nodded.

Chloe nodded herself, and leaned all of the way back on the hood, until she was laying down on her back.

Max reciprocated, and snuggled into Chloe’s side.

She then decided she wanted her head even lower, about Chloe’s belly, to feel it rising and falling, and her the bass in her voice resonate more strongly.

Chloe was all-too-happy to have a mophead to pet at while she spoke, and to feel Max’s warmth on her, like this.

 

"So ... Rachel. God. Where to even begin with her. Um."

Chloe closed her eyes and breathed in deep, letting out an almost dreamy sigh.

"The long and short of it is Rachel's mother wanted us to see if we can make things work here. We only listened because of all the bullshit that came before it, though."

Max blinked.

“What came before it?”

Chloe snickered.

"A bunch of gay shit."

Max smiled, too, but then Chloe sighed more wearily.

"... and a bunch of family drama. This is - hm - right about the time David started butting into my life, and Rachel's dad started being suspicious. Things kinda just ... lined up."

Max hummed thoughtfully.

"Lined up?"

Chloe nodded.

"For a bit, Rachel was just this - awesome, breathtaking girl I had a crush on. But ... we slowly grew on each other. By the time I had step-dad problems and she had dad problems we could like, rely on each other, and stuff."

Max sighed contently.

"Well ... I know about David. What's up with Rachel's dad?"

Chloe looked down to Max briefly and petted at her hair for a few more seconds before shrugging and laying back on the truck.

"It's actually kinda dramatic, thinking back. We saw him 'cheating' on another woman at some point."

Max blinked.

"What."

Chloe laughed softly, shaking her head.

"... yeah. Man, it's such a fucking long story - all the Rachel stories are, but um - lemme see. Uh."

Chloe breathed in deep.

"Basically her dad is a lying prick and kept stuff from her, like her real, biological mother."

Max just blinked and blinked.

"Wow ..."

All Max ever heard of Rachel was how perfect she was - even from Chloe, for a while.

How her grades were flawless.

How beautiful she was.

How everyone liked her.

Seemingly the only one who had anything bad to say about her was Victoria, which ... yeah, made sense.

It was so strange to think that she had a bunch of family drama, or she did a lot of drugs ...

Eventually, Chloe continued.

"So ... this all basically destroys Rachel, and the only one she thinks she can trust is me. We basically become girlfriends after that. Which, score."

Chloe kind of smirked, and Max smiled just barely.

A little bit of levity helped.

"I comfort her, we bond, share lots of silly secrets - like I used to do with you, way back when - and, yeah. We have to see her real mother - even if her dad doesn't want us to see her."

Max hummed flatly - for one, from the reminder of their childhood and how they used to bond, for two, from the very foreboding way Chloe described Rachel's dad not wanting them to see her.

Chloe shook her head a little.

"I'm sure you can tell already shit goes sideways as a result, but ... shit goes sideways as a result."

Chloe went quiet for a while.

"Turns out her dad wasn't just keeping Rachel's mother - Sera - from us by lying to Rachel ... he went a whole step further and hired thugs to kill her."

Max gasped.

"What?! You - you're kidding."

Chloe laughed.

"Man I wish I was. It sounds like some kind of awful horror film thinking about it or something but - yeah. That actually happened."

Max just blinked in her shock.

"Wow ... this is so dramatic."

Chloe grinned.

"Just you wait. We're not even at the good part."

Max hummed softly.

"I'm all ears ..."

Chloe nodded.

"So anyway, we find out where Sera is because one of the thugs he hired was - surprise! - Frank."

Max blinked.

"Doesn't Frank hate you?"

Chloe grumbled.

"... now he does, but remember, this was like - three years ago, or some shit. We were chill back then - mostly. So I could talk to him."

Max nodded gently.

"So what happened next?"

Chloe hummed flatly.

"Rachel and I convince Frank to take us to see Sera before his partner-slash-boyfriend kills her, buuuuuuuut ... turns out that dude is a massive fuckin' sadist psychopath."

Max blinked.

"What."

Chloe grinned.

"Your vocabulary today, Max. Yeah. Damon just - straight up tortures Sera. Rachel loses her temper, because, spoiler alert, she's a fucking force of nature when she wants to be, and um - Damon just stabs her immediately."

Max's eyes went wide.

"Rachel got _stabbed_?"

Chloe nodded simply.

"Yup. Then, me, being the dumbass horny loyal girlfriend I was, I try and wail on him and uh - no points for guessing he pwns me immediately."

Max sighed wearily.

"Chloe ..."

Chloe shrugged.

"Relax, Maxipad. I'm still alive, aren't I?"

She smirked down to Max, but Max wasn't quite smiling.

"This is so crazy ..."

Chloe shrugged and laid back on the truck, closing her eyes.

"Yeah. Rachel stories are like that. I should tell you about our first kiss sometime too - it's also a fun one. But - anyway."

Chloe shook her head.

"Frank actually saves us by shooting Damon. I guess stabbing kids and torturing innocent women is a bridge too far for him or something."

Max exhaled harshly and kind of muttered,

"He's fine with stabbing you, though ..."

Chloe snickered.

"Yeah, about that. Damon actually said some shit like 'well I guess you are like me after all' when he betrayed him, so ... yeah. But Frank was chill after that. Closest thing I had to a father anyway."

Max just shook her head, though blinking.

Maybe she shouldn't have been surprised that someone ended up dying out of this story, but ... wow.

"He still seems dangerous."

Chloe shrugged.

"Dangerous is my middle name."

Max scoffed.

"Your middle name is Elizabeth."

Chloe frowned.

"Don't remind me."

Max giggled, and Chloe did too.

Eventually Chloe cleared her throat.

"So like. Frank takes the three of us to the hospital, and like, I'm fine, Sera's been better but she's okay, but we're all worried about Rachel."

Max went quiet.

Chloe's voice got softer.

"We weren't sure she was going to pull through. It was ... close."

They both absorbed that thought slowly and carefully.

Eventually, Chloe continued.

"... but she did, and she never was really exactly the same after that - guess that's what a near-death experience does to you or something - but anyway. Her dad comes in with her not-mom and it's tense and accusative."

Max breathed a sigh of relief, though apparently she wasn't even allowed to feel relief for long in this crazy story.

"Oh no ..."

Chloe nodded.

"Yeah. Rachel's not exactly a fan of them anymore. James - her dad - tries to explain himself but - Rachel ain't hearin' it. They eventually give up and ... Sera comes in next."

Max sighed.

"Well at least she got to talk to her, right?"

Chloe nodded again.

"Oh, yeah. Except she didn't say anything Rachel wanted to hear."

Max blinked.

"What do you mean?"

Chloe shrugged.

"By this point ... Rachel feels betrayed everything and everyone - but me - so she just wants to kinda fuck it all and leave. Start over in LA or something. Travel the world."

Max hummed thoughtfully.

"Sounds familiar ..."

Chloe grinned.

"What can I say. The girl's a dreamer. Anyway - Sera came all the way from socal to see her daughter since she had gotten clean - oh, um, she was a drug addict before - and wanted to make sure Rachel didn't make her same mistakes."

Max blinked.

"Sera was a _drug addict_?"

Chloe just nodded.

"Hard stuff, too. Neglected Rachel, at least if you listen to James about it all. It's why he wanted to keep her away, didn't want her to hurt her anymore or nothin'."

Max sighed wearily.

"How awful ... but she was clean then?"

Chloe hummed affirmingly.

"Mhm - and like I said, she wanted to make sure Rachel didn't make her same mistakes, since it kinda fucked her life for a while there. Rachel ..."

Chloe sighed wearily,

"She didn't want to listen. Sera basically told her to just stay here and make things work with her girlfriend - she says with a little wink to me - and ... if she really can't, Sera might be able to make something work by giving us a place to stay in long beach when Rachel's done with her school work."

Max hummed flatly.

"So that's why you didn't leave immediately."

Chloe shrugged.

"Pretty much. I also didn't get my truck until a bit after all this shit went down, anyway."

Max just nodded.

"I'm guessing ... that's another story?"

Chloe laughed.

"Yeah. That's about when I started to become this badass punk I am now - but. Anyway."

Chloe breathed in deep.

"We - reluctantly, decide to stay in Arcadia Bay until Rachel finishes her schooling here. Then we'd dip to LA - but ..."

Her voice got miserably soft again.

"... she disappeared before then."

Max felt her heart strings tugged at hearing that way Chloe's voice wavered and got gentle, so she pointed turned a little to take one of Chloe's hands and rub affectionately at it.

"... I'm so sorry, Chloe."

Chloe closed her eyes and recomposed for a few moments.

"... yeah."

She eventually opened her eyes, smirking somehow.

"At least there's a lot of shit that happened before then. A lot of _gay_ shit."

 

Chloe smirked leaned over for a quick, but affectionate kiss on Max’s lips.

Max was happy to return it.

It gave Max a lot to think about.

Eventually, though, Chloe hummed.

"Oh, and, uh. Don't tell anyone any of that stuff. Half the reason shit only got as bad as it did is this shit got out and her dad lost his job ... and running away seemed more and more distant and impossible ..."

Max quietly nodded, though Chloe's regretful tone made her wonder about what those awful times had to be like.

... or what the gay times had to be like.

It all just seemed so dramatic.

 

They just sat and cuddled into each other for a little while, since Chloe had some stuff to think about, too.

 

“Did you ever think you were maybe too dedicated to her?”

 

Chloe grunted, then breathed in deeply, and sighed just as heavily and slowly as Max had ever heard it.

 

“Sometimes. Rachel was so important to me, but ... there were some … points, in our relationship - stories for another day, of course - but … when you love someone … really and truly … you know you’ll always be by them. You can make it work, even if it's tough.”

She looked over to Max, and Max looked up to her.

“Together Forever. Faults and all.”

Max found the idea impossibly romantic, and communicated this with a kiss … then another … then she pushed Chloe down onto the truck's hood, the two of them giggling, as they started making out.

Chloe liked it when Max was a little bossy and shoved her around, like that.

But, of course …

 

“Ain’t that cute.”

 

Frank’s voice, and the two of them separated with no uncertain amounts of blushing.

They quickly got off of the truck, and turned to face Frank.

“Fankie. What’s good.”

Frank just had his arms crossed.

“Where’s my money.”

Chloe sighed.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah …”

Her cheeks were still heated from making out with Max, but she still collected herself, went into the truck, got the envelope of money, and gave it to Frank.

He grunted, flatly.

“This money hot?”

Chloe just shrugged.

“Dunno. Don’t care. It’s yours now. We cool?”

Frank scoffed at Chloe’s recklessness, but it wasn’t always possible to find clean money in this business, anyway.

He counted it calmly until he was certain it was all there.

“… yeah. We’re cool.”

He put the envelope in his back pocket and crossed his arms again.

Max had a better chance to look at him, when the emotions weren’t all high and someone wasn’t about to get stabbed.

Frank was like Chloe, in a surprising number of ways.

They both had this ridiculously tough, damaged exterior.

They were both covered in scars and tattoos and clearly looked like they’d been to hell and back and had autographs from the Devil to prove it.

But like Max noticed earlier with Chloe in the diner, there was … something else, too.

When Chloe smiled at the news, and he smiled back … he didn’t look like a hardened criminal.

He didn’t look like the Frank Max knew, who was perfectly fine stabbing Chloe for being a useless burnout punk who only kept taking and pushing.

He looked like the Frank Max imagined him to be, all of that time ago, when he shot Damon, and saved Chloe and Rachel.

 

“Awesome possum.”

 

The two of them gave Max this … _look_.

Chloe giggled, and wrapped her arm around Max to tug her into her side.

Frank looked at them very carefully.

“This is um … Max. My girlfriend. Just uh … ignore when she’s being kinda embarrassing.”

Max gaped her mouth and thought about being offended.

Frank rolled his eyes.

“Uh-huh.”

He then just shook his head and turned around.

“Well, nice dealing with you … for once, Chloe.”

He started to walk away, and Chloe hesitated.

“Frank, wait …”

He looked back, slightly perplexed.

“… do you know anything about Nathan?”

Frank laughed earnestly.

“… oh wait, you’re serious. Let me laugh harder.”

Chloe groaned, and Max giggled a little.

“We’re um, trying to stop him, Frank. To save Rachel.”

Frank blinked and went quiet.

He turned around, and looked between Max and Rachel.

He took a few steps closer, and the air suddenly felt a bit colder.

At least Max felt safe with Chloe’s arm around her, possessing her so tightly.

“What’s Nathan have to do with Rachel?”

Frank’s voice was suddenly very different, very low, very cold.

“He … he abducted her. He was the last one to see her.”

Frank frowned, and looked at Chloe.

“That line _again_? Ugh. Nathan’s not like that. He’s … a twitchy idiot, but …”

Chloe groaned and stomped her boot on the ground.

“We’re serious, Frank. We broke into his room and found scratch marks on his walls from someone trying to escape. He … tried to rape me once. And he drugged Kate – religious girl you wouldn’t know her – at one of their parties. He has to be connected to Rachel disappearing.”

Frank frowned.

“That’s … hm.”

He crossed his arms tightly and went quiet in consideration.

Max suddenly blinked.

“The drawing, Chloe.”

Chloe suddenly blinked, too.

“Oh, right.”

She broke away from Max and walked up to Frank while unfolding Nathan’s drawings and demented scribblings.

Max wasn’t having this, though, and walked up right behind Chloe as she walked away to bossily link her arm with Chloe’s.

Chloe smirked slightly at Max’s possessive behavior, since it reminded her of Rachel, but in a Max way.

Still, Chloe handed the papers to Frank, and just stood with her arms linked with Max, and soon their hands intertwined again.

“We found this in his room. Just … ‘No double dose’, and this … drawing. But importantly, the caption.”

Frank looked them over with an ever-increasing frown.

“’No double dose’ …”

Frank suddenly gritted his teeth harshly and groaned loudly, looking up to the sky and shoving the papers back into Chloe’s chest.

She took them, but blinked at his outburst.

“That … little _fucking_ weasel! I told him … I fucking told him … I told him a _thousand_ times … **not** to double dose with the stuff.”

He broke his arms away from being crossed and just placed a hand on his forehead, shaking his head miserably and turning around to walk away.

“Fucking … _fuck_. No … he can’t … Rachel’s …”

 Max and Chloe looked between each other, but followed after him anyway.

“Frank …”

Frank spun on his heel and unconsciously and aggressively leaned towards Chloe, and it was kind of intimidating, but Max noticed that Chloe didn’t flinch, unlike she.

Good thing Chloe was around.

“I …”

Frank cut himself off, straightened his posture, looked up, and down, and shook his head with a miserable sigh.

“You want to know more about Nathan? Fine. He’s addicted to every goddamn drug under the sun. The little shithead started buying date rape drugs about a year ago.”

Chloe frowned.

Max became quietly horrified.

Date rape drugs?

Is that what Nathan used on Kate? Chloe? … Rachel?

It made sense …

And now they had some serious, tangible proof.

“You sold him date rape drugs?!”

Chloe’s anger, though.

Max blinked and squeezed Chloe’s hand, placing her head on her shoulder and just trying to steady her.

Chloe spared her a look, as much as she could, and sighed wearily, but she did in fact calm down somewhat.

Frank frowned.

“Yeah. Don’t judge me. A buck is a buck, and I need me all the dollars I can get. And they don’t remember shit, anyway. Harmless.”

Chloe’s frown deepened.

“Not fucking harmless. I remember … every … fucking … second … of that dicknose trying to undress me. Kate almost fucking committed suicide over this shit! And Rachel … Rachel! Rachel’s gone because of it!”

One, two, three, four seconds, then Frank’s expression cracked.

He looked down, raised his hand up to rub fiercely at his temples, and kept his other arm crossed over his chest.

“Damnit, I … _Rachel_.”

After a few more seconds, he sniffled, and turned around.

“I … need some time. Alone.”

Somehow, Max felt compelled to comfort him, even though this felt somewhere between pointless and dangerous.

Maybe comfort was the wrong word.

Maybe he even more information that a softer approach could bring out.

She turned to face Chloe, and waited until he was out of earshot.

“Let me talk to him. Alone.”

Chloe blinked.

“What?”

Max shook her head.

“You’re … difficult. Your way gets results but …”

She looked off to Frank,

“… sometimes it hurts people.”

She looked back to Chloe.

“Let me try it my way? See what else he might know?”

Chloe looked off to Frank, and sighed wearily.

She hesitated, for a second or two.

“Just … don’t get yourself stabbed, Max.”

Max smiled cutely and leaned up on her tippy toes to kiss Chloe on the cheek.

“Neither of us are dying, Chloe. I’ll make sure of it. Together forever, Chloe.”

Chloe looked over to Max and just smiled.

“Together forever, Max.”

 

Perhaps fitting that Max appropriate this mantra, too …

 

Chloe watched Max go away to talk to Frank and just crossed her arms.

It felt like she was never going to have a normal, chill day at this rate.

It felt just like when Rachel was in her life, and every goddamn day was an adventure, with stories, twists, and turns.

She smiled, and looked down.

Every day was an adventure, and they didn’t even need to leave Arcadia Bay for it … fuck.

This story was probably going to be hard to re-tell, later on, though.

Fucking magic time powers?

Cheesy.

Frank selling Nathan date rape drugs didn’t surprise her in the slightest, but maybe they could get him to testify.

Wouldn’t that be a scene – Frank in court.

If Nathan deserved a trial …

Which he didn’t.

He deserved to die.

Still, good option to have in her pocket.

More dirt.

Frank would turn on him.

Nathan had fucking no one, anymore.

Good.

 

Max quietly and gently walked up behind Frank.

He was just standing by his RV with his arms fiercely crossed and a lit cigarette in hand.

He noticed Max getting closer, but didn’t turn to face her or anything, kind of awkwardly.

After a few seconds of his back to her, Max cleared her throat, and he sighed.

He took another hit of his cigarette, uncrossed his arms, and peered carefully at Max.

His eyes were a little red.

“What do you want, kiddo.”

Max resisted frowning at the words.

“You sound like you were close to Rachel.”

He scoffed.

“Everyone was. If you knew Rachel, you would be close to her, too. That’s just how shit works with her.”

Max blinked, then frowned a little, looking back to Chloe.

“Like … as close as Chloe was to Rachel?”

She looked back to Frank, and Frank sighed wearily.

“Listen, kid. This shit’s in the past. There’s no point talking about it now.”

Max shook her head, slightly.

“I don’t agree. Chloe didn’t start to get over Rachel until we … talked about it.”

Frank blinked, and took another hit of his cigarette.

“Your point being …?”

Max smiled, gently.

“Talking about her can … help you, too.”

Frank went quiet for a few seconds, looking away with a sigh.

Then, he carefully looked back to Max.

“Damn. I see why Chloe’s into you, now. You sound just like her.”

Max blinked.

“Fine, kiddo. What do you want to know?”

Max smiled, gently.

“How close were you to Rachel?”

Frank closed his eyes and sighed wearily.

Another hit of his cigarette.

“We weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, but … she cared for me a lot, and I cared for her a lot.”

Max frowned just barely.

“Are you saying she … cheated on Chloe?”

Frank shrugged.

“I’m saying Rachel is a goddamn complicated person and nothing is fuckin’ easy when she’s involved.”

Max frowned a bit more.

“Seems pretty straight-forward if she was in a serious relationship with … two people … at once.”

 Frank shook his head.

“It’s not that simple. When you get older and out of high school you’ll start to learn about this shit.”

Max frowned even more.

“How can it not be?”

Frank laughed.

“What if I told you we got very close after Chloe and Rachel broke up? And then Rachel got back together with Chloe a while later? We didn’t think they’d start up again … like I’m saying, shit’s not so simple in real life.”

Max blinked, but felt her frown go away.

“And Chloe doesn’t know about this …”

Frank nodded.

“And you’re not telling her, unless you want to stab her in the heart. Which is exactly why neither of us did.”

He crossed his arms.

“Right, girlie? Don’t you go off and hurt Chloe, now.”

Max gaped her mouth and put a hand over her heart.

“You want me to … _lie_ to her about this?”

Frank shook his head.

“Not directly. It’s a white lie. Let Chloe’s memories of Rachel be pure. There’s a lot of shit she doesn’t know that she’s better off not.”

Max frowned and crossed her arms.

“That’s … not cool. Chloe deserves to know the truth.”

Frank shrugged and uncrossed his arms to bring his hands up on either side of his chest before lowering them.

“Tell her if you really want to. Maybe she’ll handle it better with you around. Lord knows it was eating Rachel away to keep it from her.”

He looked back to his RV, then grunted.

“In fact. Wait a second.”

Frank turned around and got into his RV.

Max just sighed and looked down, still with her arms crossed.

Chloe always talked so doting and lovingly about Rachel …

What would it do to her to know that she had been with Frank, too?

… or others? Frank’s wording was … concerning.

But Chloe already knew Rachel wasn’t perfect?

It just took her a while to come around to that.

Maybe she already knew?

Maybe this was another thing she was just in denial about, like Rachel’s drug habit?

Could Max really live with herself if she told Chloe and she took it awfully?

Could she live with herself know that she knew better and didn’t tell Chloe anyway?

Frank came back out of the RV with a small envelope and gave it to Max, interrupting her thoughts.

“Here. One of the letters Rachel gave to me. In case Chloe doesn’t believe you.”

Max took it and carefully opened it, sort of mindlessly.

Frank crossed his arms while Max read.

“And I know this … seems awful.”

Max blinked.

It didn’t take very long in reading the letter to see obvious affection Rachel had for Frank …

Frank sighed.

“And I can’t … really speak for Rachel. She had these … plans. Visions for how everything was going to work out. But I _know_ her heart was in the right place.”

Max couldn’t miss a photograph Rachel included with the letter, either … she was half-naked and partying in Frank’s RV.

Max was reminded yet again of just how gorgeous Rachel was, but … the context of the photo.

Were Chloe and Rachel together when this was taken?

Chloe probably wouldn’t care about that distinction …

Frank awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck.

“And don’t mind that picture or nothin’. Girl gets a little crazy when she’s high, but … that’s as far as it went.”

Max frowned and looked up to Frank.

“I’m not sure Chloe would agree …”

Frank sighed.

“All of the more reason to not tell her.”

Max frowned more deeply.

Frank shook his head.

“No one’s perfect. Rachel isn’t, Chloe isn’t, you aren’t, and I sure as hell ain’t.”

This, at least, Max could find somewhat agreeable.

She folded the letter back up, and put it into the envelope, still debating whether or not she should tell Chloe about this.

“I guess not …”

Frank crossed his arms again and sighed.

“So, there you go. You kept pushing and, surprise, found out something you probably would have been better not knowing about. Ignorance is bliss, and all. Y’done now, buttercup?”

Max sighed.

He kinda had a point.

Max really didn’t want this dumped on her, this decision.

Neither outcome seemed good.

Still.

Max had other questions.

She tried to put all of this stuff about Rachel out of her mind for now.

“Why sell drugs to Nathan? He’s clearly … he has some issues.”

Frank scoffed.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

Max nodded.

“You don’t _have_ to, but … maybe you _want_ to?”

Frank blinked.

He looked away from Max, uncrossed his arms, rubbed at the back of his neck, then looked back to her.

“You’re somethin’ else, aren’t you? You know how many girlies come up to me and try and play therapist?”

Max looked around, briefly.

“Um. Not many.”

She looked back to him, and he laughed.

“Yeah. Not fucking many. Look, kid. Nathan needs the shit. Between his family and everything going on, you need escapes like that to get the fuck away from your life.”

Max was suddenly reminded of the language Chloe used to describe Rachel …

“He needed escapes, like … Rachel needed them?”

Frank sighed.

“Basically. And now Chloe. When your life just sucks, you need shit like this. Makes the pain dull. Don’t have to deal with what’s wrong in your life.”

Max hummed thoughtfully, and tried to recount her earlier conversation with Chloe about this.

“It’s unfair, because it’s like … a Faustian bargain. Everything’s easier, but you’re slowly killing yourself in the process.”

Frank blinked.

“You sound like an addict that read Shakespeare or something. Yeah, basically.”

He looked at her more thoughtfully, though.

Max certainly didn’t look the type to be into drugs to know about that.

Then again, she certainly looked more like she did now that she was in Rachel’s clothes.

“But … date rape drugs?”

Frank shrugged.

“If you want to know how I go to sleep at night after doing this shit I’m too fucking drunk every night to remember how. Kid. Money is money. I was told no one remembered shit and Nathan said it would keep him from snapping. So. _Whatever_.”

Max sighed wearily, and looked down.

“You need the money that badly?”

Frank grunted.

“Jeez, you want to just ask every personal goddamn question under the sun, don’t you? I need it enough that I don’t care in selling drugs to teenagers. Okay? Not a lot of fucking options for someone like me in Obama’s America. So you make do.”

Max just sighed once more, and got the feeling he was getting frustrated at her now.

She had plenty to think about already, anyway …

“Okay, Frank. Sorry for um … snooping.”

Max had _some_ self-awareness about this, at least.

Frank just scoffed, and shook his head slightly.

But there was a faint smile.

“Sometimes … it’s nice to talk about this stuff. Rachel always knew that. I think that’s why everyone liked her so much… Anyway. Treat Chloe well, girlie. She deserves better than the cards life handed her.”

Max blinked.

That gave her even _more_ to think about …

“Um … I plan to. Thanks, Frank.”

Frank just shrugged.

This wasn’t exactly how either of them were planning the conversation on going.

But at least Frank breathed a bit easier in telling _someone_ about Rachel.

Now it was Max’ burden.

 

Max carefully walked back to Chloe, processing everything from her conversation with Frank poorly.

Chloe … deserved to know.

Max couldn’t lie to her.

What if Chloe found out and then later found out Max lied to her, on top of that?

It’d just …

Ugh.

Maybe Max could tell Chloe what Frank told her.

It didn’t sound like a very good excuse in Max’s mind, but maybe it would make the difference between Chloe taking this poorly and catastrophically.

She could always rewind if it went that badly …

But Max wasn’t sure she could live with herself just carrying this burden on her.

And Rachel did this for how many years?

With how many relationships?

What would that even do to a person to have that constant stress on them?

… is that why she needed the drugs?

Confusing, confusing thoughts.

Max didn’t know what to think of Rachel, anymore.

 

She just walked in front of Chloe.

Chloe smirked, playfully.

“I see you’re short of some stab wounds. Perhaps I could interest you in one?”

Max laughed, and it felt kind of weird to laugh with the shit on her mind, but it was so Chloe to make her laugh when she was feeling a bunch of tough emotions.

“I think I’m good.”

Chloe just shrugged, still smirking.

“Offer’s still up.”

She looked past Max to Frank, and frowned, slightly.

“Find out anything else about things? With your …”

Chloe considered saying ‘pussy’, but, instead,

“… _gentle_ touch?”

Max nodded.

“… yeah, actually. But uh. I was us to be sitting down when we go over this.”

Chloe blinked.

“Damn. That bad, huh?”

Max nodded.

“It’s … tough.”

Chloe sighed.

“Okay. Let me grab some pot, then … will probably take the edge off of it.”

Max bit her lip, but allowed Chloe to return to the truck and find some weed without any moralizing.

She was concerned about Chloe’s drug use, but … the perspective helped.

If Chloe was drunk and high when she heard about Rachel, would it be easier on her?

Would she be able to feel less …?

Maybe there was a reason Frank said he drank every night …

Maybe there was a reason Chloe immediately reached for beer or weed when things got heavy.

Max sighed.

Weird thoughts.

 

Eventually, Chloe came back with a small baggie, and they walked to the club house.

Chloe sat down a bit too forcefully on the couch as she was wont to do.

Max found her a beer – without being prompted.

When she handed it to Chloe, Chloe looked up to her with a stupid grin.

“Damn. I’ve got you so whipped. Thanks, babe.”

Max blushed, somehow, but just playfully scoffed and sat down next to Chloe.

Chloe started smoking the weed and started drinking the beer.

Max just waited patiently, still strongly considering backing down on this.

There was no way this wasn’t going to hurt her.

There was no way this wasn’t going to make Chloe cry, or maybe even angry.

There was no way this wasn’t going to hamper all of the memories she had with Rachel.

And totally destroy a happy reconnecting if Rachel was somehow alive after all of this.

Could Max really do this just to make things easier on herself?

Or did Chloe simply deserve to know, and anything else was purely selfish?

Max could at least _see_ why Rachel and Frank hid this from her.

She was dreading hurting Chloe like this so very badly … and Frank and Rachel had been close to her for even longer.

It didn’t justify it, to Max, but … she could at least understand.

Finally, when Chloe had knocked back about half of the beer, she looked over to Max.

 

“So. What’s the bad news, Max? Rachel off in LA or something and Frank knew about it?”

 

This was somewhere between serious and playful and the way Chloe’s eyes wavered told Max this was a more serious concern than a playful one.

She bit her own lip.

“Um, no … Chloe. Not … not quite that.”

Chloe breathed in deep, looked forward again, placed both of her boots on the table, and took another hit of beer.

“Alright. Whatever it is, hit me.”

Max bit her lip even more tightly and secured one of Chloe’s hands in both of hers.

“Chloe … you know how … Rachel isn’t quite perfect? Like with the drugs?”

Chloe nodded slowly, though didn’t like where this conversation was going at all.

“Well… um. I guess … she’s less perfect than … than even that. Frank … uh.”

Max looked away.

This was so hard to come out.

She wanted to back out so badly right now …

She could rewind, too …

Fuck it.

Max removed one of her hands and pulled out the Frank letter, and gave it to Chloe.

Chloe blinked, but broke away her hands to carefully take the letter and start reading it.

“… Rachel’s not exactly perfect with her relationships, either.”

Chloe read the letter with her face slowly, agonizingly falling more and more.

“No … no. She …”

Her voice started to waver.

She saw the photo.

Both of her boots came up and _slammed_ down on the table so hard Max was scared she might have broke it.

“Fuck! That … this … two-faced … _bitch_ she --- she was --- fucking --- _banging_ Frank while ---”

Chloe was spiraling.

This was bad.

This was exactly what Max was afraid of.

Max tactically deployed a harsh and firm touch to Chloe’s shoulder, squeezing it as aggressively as she could, and although Chloe wormed it off at first, she accepted the second time Max placed her hand there.

“--- _Chloe._ ”

Chloe paused, briefly, in her ranting, to look over to Max.

Max could see tears … and they were so painful to look at.

Max thought she was going to start crying up out of empathy.

“… Frank said all of this happened when you two broke up. And that the photo was as far as they went, and that was only because she was high on drugs.”

Chloe looked at Max pathetically for a few seconds, processing the context, but groaned painfully, closing her eyes and looking to the ceiling.

“He’s a fucking … fucking … she’s a fu … ugh. They’re … they’re lying, Max. He just … ugh.”

Max kept squeezing Chloe’s shoulder, but decided she might need to deliver more affection, and so she tried to pull Chloe into a hug.

Chloe resisted it at first, as well, but eventually she melted into Max’s front, leaning over into her, while Max’s hands and arms tightly wrapped around her.

“I don’t know … what the truth is … anymore, Chloe … That’s just what he told me. Do you think she would cheat on you?”

Chloe sniffled, crying gently in Max’s embrace for some moments now that Max’s affection had redirected the anger again.

“I-I don’t know … Max. I … fuck. Things were … really bad, back then. I … try to even forget it happened, sometimes.”

Chloe carefully pulled herself out of Max’s hug, but only because a conversation was hard in the position.

She still hugged at herself and looked away from Max miserably, though.

“… well. Frank told me they didn’t want to hurt you. Which is why they didn’t tell you.”

Chloe scoffed, dangerously.

“Well. Job well fucking done. Just … _ugh_.”

She stood up, suddenly, and took the beer bottle to finish the last of it – almost a full half bottle – before tossing it across the club house.

It shattered.

Max blinked.

Chloe stormed over to find another beer, and didn’t even bother to walk closer to Max before she started chugging this one, too.

Max blinked again.

Chloe finished this one, tossed it where the first bottle had landed, and this one too shattered, but less so.

She placed one hand against the wall of the club house and just breathed heavily.

“Fuck …”

Max bit her lip, and considered rewinding.

Chloe was already starting another beer …

Max got up and slowly walked over to Chloe, but Chloe just shrugged off the touch.

And when Max tried again, Chloe growled, and pushed her a little.

Max gasped and took a few steps back, dangerously.

Chloe was breathing so harshly.

Her eyeliner was running from crying, and her entire body was shaking, and she was desperately gripping this bottle of beer, and just –

Everything about her was so pained.

She was somewhere between pissed off beyond all reason and hopelessly sad.

Or maybe both at once, with how quickly she switched between the two.

“Max …”

Max wanted to feel offended at being shoved or unsafe now that Chloe was getting violent, but …

She just kept seeing the damage Chloe had, and it just kept tugging at her heart strings.

“Chloe …”

Chloe shook her head viciously, and brought a hand up to rub harshly at her hair for a few seconds.

She finished off this beer bottle, too, in two massive glups, but at least this one she didn’t throw.

“Just … let me have this, Max. I need … I need a moment. Alone.”

Max frowned.

“But we’re a team, Chloe ---”

Chloe turned and tossed this bottle to the now-pile of broken glass and turned to face Max, tightly clenching her fists.

She was pretty intimidating …

Max wasn’t scared, but she was getting there.

Chloe wouldn’t hurt her.

… would she?

“--- Not right fucking now. I was a … fucking team with Rachel, and then look what she did! Max! I can’t … _everyone_ does this to me. Fucking … _everyone_. Even you, Max.”

Max frowned, deeply.

“Chloe Elizabeth Price! You take that back.”

Chloe had a sort of half-angry half-amused scoff, and looked away for a few seconds, before back to Max, sniffling once or twice.

“Okay. I take that back, Max. You’re …”

She looked down, and raised a hand up to rub harshly at her forehead.

“… you’re you, Max … and … I …”

Chloe hesitated on something, then just viciously shook her head.

She brought both of her hands down.

“Just … I need some time. Max. Sorry. Please.”

Chloe’s voice went all over the place in this conversation, from desperately angry to desperately sad, to even a little somber and regretful.

She was already eyeing another beer in the quiet moments while Max considered.

Max eventually just sighed.

“Chloe … please. Just … cry on my shoulder, or … something. I’m here for you, Chloe. It hurts so much to see you like this …”

Chloe whimpered.

She closed her eyes, raised a hand up again to rub harshly at her forehead, and then numbly walked over to the couch.

She plopped down a bit too harshly on it, face first, and immediately scrambled around to get some more weed in her system.

She didn’t say anything, so … Max assumed she was still allowed to stay.

She walked over and sat down on the couch, carefully.

Chloe was properly crying, now, but at least she had the presence of mind to scoot up and place her head in Max’s lap.

“It hurts so much … Max … I just … I just want to run away … escape from this … bullshit … stop feeling. Stop thinking.”

Max nodded carefully.

She automatically brought a hand to gently stroke at Chloe’s cheeks, which earned more pained whimpers out of her, but she knew they were helping someway, somehow.

“I know this is … hard. I can’t even imagine …”

Chloe closed her eyes.

“I trusted Rachel with … everything. With my life … and she … she didn’t trust me with this … what else was she keeping from me?”

Max bit her lip.

Frank’s words hit in her in the face about other shit Chloe didn’t know about.

“I don’t know, Chloe … it seems like telling you hurt you a lot.”

Chloe sighed wearily.

“It’s not the … kinda cheating that bothers me, Max. Rachel was … Rachel was my everything. If she made a mistake … if she got drunk or high one night … I would be … upset … but I would get over it. _We_ … _we_ would get over it. I’d kick her ass, but … we’d get over it.”

She breathed in deep, still with her eyes closed.

“… what bothers me is … the trust. There was … nothing I kept from Rachel. Even when it hurt her badly. Even when it made us break apart for a little … she knew everything … and still kept stuff from me …”

Max nodded slowly.

This at least validated her decision to not keep this from Chloe …

Even if it hurt her.

“Yeah … I … debated telling you about this … since I knew it would hurt … but I thought you deserved to know.”

Chloe smiled just barely, and quickly took one of Max’s hands to squeeze it tightly.

“And … I appreciate that so much, … Max. You … did what even Rachel wouldn’t do … for me.”

Max smiled, too.

Chloe then just groaned.

“Now I … ugh. I just want some quiet time to think, Max. You can stay, just … let’s keep the feelsy shit away.”

Max nodded.

She could use some time to think about stuff, herself.

Max melted more into the couch.

Chloe melted, and cried.

She cried, and she cried a lot.

It hurt Max so badly to hear Chloe cry …

But there was only so much comfort Max could give.

And she pushed hard to make sure she could stay by and make sure Chloe didn’t spiral too bad.

Even if it was quite an emotional burden on herself.

Because Chloe deserved someone to be there for her.

She deserved someone to give her a reason to not drink.

To not run away.

 

It was much later – hours, potentially – when they drove back to the Price household.

Chloe was … such a zombie.

She didn’t make jokes, she didn’t really respond to Max’s teasing, she walked coldly and numbly, and she immediately just crashed on her bed when she got there.

Max sat down on the computer chair next to the bed, and patted herself down until she found the old photo Chloe had given her, a while ago.

The shot of Chloe and Rachel kissing.

What if … what if Max could fix this?

Chloe was right, all of that time ago.

Max didn’t know she could pause time …

Maybe there was something she could do here.

Maybe … maybe even if Rachel still died … maybe she could get her to tell the truth earlier.

Chloe wouldn't be so hurt.

She would know the truth and it wouldn't hurt as much.

Max had to do this.

She could fix this.

She just … had to figure out how.

She stared at the photo, harshly, intently, intimately, examining every single detail.

She stared.

She stared.

And stared some more.

They looked so happy …

Max got frustrated when she realized she just … couldn’t do anything, no matter how much she stared, no matter how much she examined it.

Magic powers only went so far.

Fuck.

She looked up to the ceiling with her eyes tightly closed, and started to cry.

She couldn't fix this.

 

She looked back down to the photo, and her world was blurry.

But her feelings were raw.

She felt every tear Chloe dropped earlier, all of the agony in the only relationship Chloe thought was good resulting in yet another betrayal.

All of the emotional dam Max had built up trying to be a good helpful girlfriend broke, and she just cried, miserably and pathetically.

She felt everything, all at once, and it was completely overwhelming.

 

Until the photo shimmered.

 

Max dropped it, with a shuddering gasp.

 

But then she picked it up, again … and really looked at it.

Not that any particular details were new, but ... photos don't just glow on their own, right?

 

 

Rachel

difficult

 

but pang

sad

 

she closed her eyes

 

and wished for it

to go away

 

Max’s world went white.

 

and her thoughts

 

slowed

 

down.

 

she was content

dreamless.

 

this body was

 

weird

 

but there was a thought

 

somewhere

 

somehow.

 

she had a desire

 

a wish.

 

she closed her eyes

 

and wished for it

like nothing else,

 

When Max’s world faded from white to the normal color grade of the world, she felt … different.

Not sad, for one.

It took her a few seconds to process what was going on.

Her mind felt like it had just woken up from a thousand-year slumber and was operating on gears too slow for the waking world.

She shook her head a few times, and groaned.

She was staring at a photo …

A photo that felt … wrong.

She shouldn’t have this photo.

She just came here from Blackwell.

Victoria was waiting outside.

She shouldn't have been able to take this, since it was of Chloe and Rachel.

All alone.

 

But Chloe gave it to her?

But Chloe wasn't a good friend?

They didn't even talk ...

They just kissed, though. Not that long ago.

Impossible.

The dissonance felt weirdly violating, like her own thoughts and memories couldn't even be trusted, and Max tried to put the thoughts out of her mind by putting the photo into her jacket and observing her surroundings.

She was …

In a hospital.

Of course, she was on her way to visit Chloe.

Of course? Why would Chloe be in a hospital?

The dissonance continued, and Max just started to walk forward, as if new experiences would help her deal with it.

For some reason, she thought to turn the hall way just here, and keep on walking to the end of the hall.

Until she saw ---

Rachel.

Max never got used to how gorgeous Rachel was.

But she only saw her in photos?

No, she saw her all of the time around Blackwell.

Victoria never managed to shut up about her.

 

Rachel looked up.

Her eyes were puffy, red, and irritated, to the point some of her even flawless makeup had been ruined.

And her hair was frazzled, just a little, but noticeable.

Perfectly-coordinated clothes.

Her arms were tightly crossed, and she was standing in front of Chloe’s door.

“Who the fuck is … oh. _Max_. And … just what do _you_ want? Haven’t you fucking done enough?”

 

To apologize.

To save you.

 

The same dissonant thoughts.

Max blinked.

 

Rachel sounded so hurt, and she was clearly crying so much … oh no.

What happened to Chloe?

She was stabbed.

What?

How did Max know that?

Chloe told her, right? Frank stabbed her. And Chloe invited her here. 

But Chloe wasn’t in a hospital, and her relationship with Frank wasn’t that bad?

Dissonance.

She took a few steps closer to Rachel, and breathed in deep.

Rachel's emotional and irritated tone didn't even phase her.

 

“Move it, bitch. I just want to apologize. I know I haven't been a stellar friend. But I'm here _now_.”

 

Woah. 

Where did that come from?

Max didn't talk like that.

What?

She talked like that all of the time.

She wasn't fucking pathetic, anymore.

Dissonance.

Rachel emitted a pathetic sigh.

“Ugh, no shit. _Whatever_. Just … make it quick. I don't know why Chloe is giving you another chance. You know you don't deserve it.”

 

Rachel stepped away from the door, and put a hand up to shield her eyes.

Max stepped up to Chloe’s hospital door, trying to ignore what Rachel had to say.

Max wasn't a good friend ...

At least both parts of her insanity were in agreement with that.

But she was here now.

 

But she hesitated.

 

She didn’t really want to walk through this door, did she …?

Chloe was ... difficult.

No.

Max would do anything to see more Chloe and make things up to her.

This dissonance was going to drive her insane.

She just breathed in deep and opened the door, trying to ignore the two sides of her mind constantly in conflict.

 

But she could only gasp when she saw Chloe, laying in the hospital bed.


	10. Shatter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rachel shatters.
> 
> Chloe shatters.
> 
> Victoria shatters.
> 
> Max shatters.
> 
> It's unclear if the pieces can be put back together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content notice: Alcohol abuse and mentions of suicide

Chloe looked up from her hospital bed, stirred by the door opening, and at once both smiled and frowned.

Max had came, yet.

Max was Max.

Max had ignored her for so very long.

And Max was so different, these days.

She looked nothing like Chloe’s childhood memories, and while the self-awareness that Chloe looked nothing like her younger self was there, it didn’t ease Chloe’s discomfort.

Mostly because Max wasn’t just different in some trivial way, she was massively different.

 

She was a Vortex Club asshole.

 

And she even looked the part.

Longer, half-bleached hair, fancy clothes, that resting judgmental stare.

Though, Max’s face did something it had done no prior times seen at Blackwell prior, and softened up as she looked at Chloe.

She gasped and raised a hand up to cover her face.

Chloe sighed and closed her eyes.

Here comes the pointless sympathy.

When she opened them again, Max had recovered enough to remove her hand, and started to slowly and carefully walk closer.

Her face was pitched up, drowning in concern.

“Oh my god, Chloe … are you okay?”

Chloe scoffed, and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I mean, ‘tis just a flesh wound. If I get stabbo one more time I get to punch my loyalty card and get a free ice cream.”

This joke didn’t feel as genuine as Chloe wanted it to, since her mood was kinda shit, but.

It still earned a small amused sound out of Max, and a genuine smile.

That was … different.

Chloe never remembered seeing Max smile or laugh at her jokes.

It was always that passive disdain all of the Vortex Club assholes had for her.

Maybe Max just didn’t feel the need to keep up appearances without her girlfriend around.

Out of all of them, Victoria was certainly the least patient with Chloe.

It didn’t help that Rachel was around her so often, either.

Max got closer to the bed and found a chair to bring it to the side of the hospital bed.

Chloe watched her plainly, and didn’t quite know how to react when Max took one of her hands and affectionately held it and stroke it.

The affection was nice, but … it felt a little weird with the context of their relationship.

Max was being too affectionate.

But whatever.

Chloe had just gotten stabbed.

Maybe Max was just being comforting.

Chloe stopped caring about it, for now, anyway.

“So. You came. I’m … almost kinda surprised.”

Max bit her lip, and hesitated.

She looked down, and seemed to be debating something.

When she looked back up, she just sighed.

“I didn’t mean for us to be … like this. I just … I care for you, Chloe. You know that?”

Chloe scoffed dangerously and pulled her hand free from Max’s grasp to cross her arms and look at her carefully, though incredulously.

“Uh-huh. And I’m the king of Spain.”

Max frowned.

Chloe shook her head.

“Look, Max, let’s just … not. That’s not what I invited you here for.”

Max kept her frown, and sat up herself to cross her own arms.

“Then what was it for, bitch?”

There we go.

That sounded like the Max Chloe knew, and it put an equal frown on her face.

“Rachel’s …”

Chloe sighed and looked away from Max to just stare at one of her walls.

“… like. Okay. I know you don’t _really_ care … anymore. But you did at some point … and … I dunno who else to turn to.”

Max blinked carefully.

Chloe looked over to her again.

“Will you help me with something, Max? No gossiping with your bitches.”

Max blinked again, but nodded, and uncrossed her arms.

She placed her hands on her lap and leaned forward towards the bed again.

“… yeah, sure, Chloe. Of course. What’s um, up?”

Chloe eyed Max’s face for signs of deception or distrust, but just saw softness and concern.

She looked forward again.

“Alright. I dunno why but I still trust you, Max … but I’m definitely ending you if this gets out.”

She shook her head.

“Anyway. Rachel … kinda cheated on me.”

She looked over to Max, who didn’t seem surprised in the slightest.

They both frowned, though.

“Oh no.”

Chloe nodded and looked forward again, trying to figure out why in the hell that wasn’t surprising to Max.

Maybe she just believed Victoria’s gossip about Rachel being a whore.

Probably.

Ugh.

Whatever.

At least Max sounded appropriately worried and soft.

“Yeah … um. She had Frank and I in the clubhouse and … told us she wanted a life with the three of us together, living off in LA.”

Chloe side-eyed Max.

Max blinked about a million times.

There we go.

At least _that_ was as surprising to her as it should have been.

Somehow, Chloe smirked a little.

“Yeah. It’s um … it was a thing.”

Max sighed and crossed her arms, sitting back up in her chair.

“What happened after that …?”

Chloe looked away, to her room’s window, and rubbed at the back of her neck for a second or two.

“I got … kinda angry. Said some … things. I don’t know if I should have but, either way … everyone gets pissed, I pull a knife out … Frank has his own. I hesitate, he doesn’t.”

She sighed and went deathly quiet.

Max bit her lip.

“Oh, Chloe …”

Max inched closer to the bed, sensing Chloe needed some comfort again, but was rebuked by Chloe’s hand just coldly fleeing when Max’s own touched it.

Chloe knew Max was just trying to be comforting, but, still.

Actions have consequences.

After a few awkward seconds, Chloe crossed her arms and looked back to Max. 

“So … I want you to talk to Rachel.”

Max blinked.

“ _Me_?”

Chloe nodded.

“Look, I know your girl kind of hates her, but still. Just do it for me? See if you think her heart was in the right place. I … don’t know what to think about this crap, anymore. I don’t really want to talk to her right now, either. Emotions are still kinda raw.”

Chloe frowned, somewhat.

Max crossed her arms, sat up straight, and sighed.

“… alright. If she’ll even talk to me …”

Chloe scoffed, and looked forward again.

“C’mon Max, you’re a lady killer. Just do something for me … for once.”

Max sighed wearily, and looked down to the floor.

Chloe felt … kind of bad about guilting Max about this, and she had talked through a lot of this shit with Rachel, but, still …

Max was a Vortex Club asshole.

Even though they were on the same campus, Max hardly said five words to her.

She just pretended she didn’t ghost Chloe for years and years.

No apology, no nothing …

Seattle really had changed her.

Whatever.

After her moments of consideration, Max stood up and nodded.

“Okay … I’ll talk to her. See what she has to say about all of … _this_.”

Max uncrossed her arms to gesture with both of her arms wide at ‘this’.

Chloe smiled.

“Killer.”

Max just stood for a few more seconds, looking at Chloe gently.

Chloe didn’t really know how to handle it, since Max’s look still felt affectionate, when it never really was.

And this hesitation and lingering felt … awkward.

Still, Max eventually turned and left the hospital room, closing the door gently behind her.

Chloe closed her eyes and melted more into the bed.

Maybe Max could keep a level head about this shit …

It was hard enough to find someone who wouldn’t be deferential to Rachel simply because they were her friend, let alone one such person who Chloe could trust.

And despite the years of radio silence …

Chloe did still trust Max.

She was a fucking pathetic loser for it, but she wanted an excuse to welcome Max back into her life.

Anything.

This was far from an ideal way to be reunited, but maybe there wasn’t any.

Chloe shook her head and sighed, turning over more onto her side, even if this resulted in some pain and she had to remember she was bound to her back for now.

God, damnit.

She hated being immobile.

She was going to vibrate herself to death at this rate.

 

After Max carefully closed the door, she crossed her arms and raised a hand up to rub at her temples while looking down to the floor and closing her eyes.

Christ.

This Max wasn’t expecting, at all.

Chloe getting stabbed.

Rachel sort of cheating?

A love triangle?

With Frank, of all people?

But there was this weird desire deep within Max to help Chloe however much she could.

Maybe it was just a desire to make it up to her.

Max wasn’t quite sure, but it felt new.

Conflicting, almost.

Chloe was still the sort-of cold asshole she knew and didn’t even accept any of Max’s affections.

The first thing she asks for is a favor, to top it off.

Couldn’t even talk to her about their issues.

Ugh.

But Chloe didn’t really deserve the cards life had dealt her.

She had her reasons for being an asshole.

Conflicting.

 

Max shook her head and looked up and around for Rachel.

Rachel was on the opposite wall, with her back to it, leaning on it and going through her phone.

Max sighed, briefly pulled out her phone, and texted Rachel.

_look up_

Rachel frowned, but looked up as Max took a few steps closer.

Max crossed her arms.

Rachel returned the favor.

She frowned, too.

Max didn’t quite know what approach she wanted to take, here.

Some part of her wanted to be nice, for some reason.

Not like this cheating bitch deserved that.

But … her heart was in the right place, wasn’t it?

Frank thought so.

How the fuck did Max know that?

Ugh.

These conflicting thoughts were going to drive her insane.

Still, the hesitation was heavy and thick and awkward enough that Rachel was motivated to talk first.

“Done making Chloe even more upset?”

Rachel wasn’t being diplomatic.

She sounded tense, and a little angry.

What’d Chloe say?

The emotions were still raw.

Max could see why they probably couldn’t talk right now.

Max sighed and shook her head.

“ _For your information_ , Chloe mostly wanted to talk about you two … and Frank. And the _funny business_ there. Instead of her and I.”

Rachel blinked about a million times, and some of the anger drained out of her immediately in a way that desperately reminded Max of Chloe.

She sighed and looked down for a few seconds.

“She told you about that, huh?”

And she sounded pretty miserable and cold when her words came.

Max took a step or two closer and nodded, even if Rachel couldn’t see it.

She cleared her throat.

Rachel looked up.

Max nodded again so Rachel could see it this time.

“Chloe wants me to play mediator, I guess.”

Rachel sighed and shook her head before looking away from Max, behind her, to the door leading to Chloe’s room.

“You’re a weird choice for that …”

Max bit her lip.

Rachel looked back to her after another few seconds of consideration.

“… but I guess there’s worse people she could have picked.”

Max smiled, barely.

Rachel just kept her frown, though did break an arm away to wipe a strand of hair behind her hair.

“So … what do you want to know, Max?”

Max uncrossed her arms.

“The full story.”

Rachel looked side to side to make sure no one was around, and Max thoughtlessly mirrored.

There wasn’t.

They were completely alone.

They looked back to each other.

Rachel bit her lip.

“No gossiping. If _anyone_ hears about this …”

There was a dangerous sparkle in her eye, and it was kind of intimidating.

Max raised her hands up in mock surrender and shook her head.

“… no, no gossiping. Victoria doesn’t need to know … _everything._ ”

Rachel blinked but her expression softened up considerably.

“Yeah … that’s right.”

Rachel looked down the halls again, and Max was reading this as anxiety.

Or maybe nervousness.

She looked back to Max.

“Have you ever kept a painful secret from Victoria? Or Chloe? Something that’d just … _ruin_ them … if it came out?”

Max thought about it, and of course, her brain offered two perfectly conflicted answers.

Of course not. All of her friends deserved the truth.

Of course she had. Victoria couldn’t handle the truth, sometimes.

She didn’t know which was right, anymore, and at least the dissonance felt less violating the more she got used to it.

Just like conflicting memories, or something.

Max hedged her bets and decided they were both kinda right.

“I mean … maybe some stuff … small stuff. Nothing huge. I think Victoria would deserve to know big stuff.”

Rachel closed her eyes and sighed painfully.

“… yeah, exactly, basically.”

Max blinked.

“Exactly?”

Rachel nodded and opened her eyes.

She uncrossed her arms to just rest her hands plainly on the wall behind her.

“Max I … made a mistake. Chloe is … amazing. She’s a wonderful woman. And I … _love her_ more than you can _imagine_ but … she’s not perfect. And … we don’t always see eye-to-eye.”

Max frowned, somewhat.

She already knew this story, didn’t she?

Chloe and Rachel broke up. Then Rachel got close to Frank.

Or was that just a rumor? Gossip?

“Things ever get bad?”

Rachel looked down to the floor, gloomily.

“Yeah … and over such … _stupid_ shit, too. Ugh.”

Max smiled, just barely.

“I can relate. Victoria can be … difficult sometimes.”

Rachel smirked and had herself an amused scoff, and looked up again.

“Difficult is a good word. I like it. We’re both … _difficult_ , sometimes. So difficult that we decided to take a break.”

Max nodded, even if she was conflicted, because of course she was.

A real relationship wouldn’t need a break.

But maybe shit happens sometimes, and you just need some space.

Whatever.

She decided to hedge the two parts of her, again.

“On-again off-again is playing with fire, y’know.”

Rachel smiled, sadly, if such a thing was possible.

“Or more like playing with knives … but yeah … I know that now.”

She shook her head and crossed her arms.

“In the moment … it didn’t seem like we were going to get back together. I’m … not sure Chloe is serious about running away, sometimes … and it worries me.”

Max blinked.

She remembered, vaguely, an impossible conversation with Chloe about this.

Sera convinced them to stay, right …?

Who the fuck was Sera?

“Really? Everyone and their dog knows you two want to go to LA. … even if you’re still here for some reason.”

Rachel scoffed, but smiled, gently.

“There’s … a really long and personal story with that … but yeah. All I’m saying is I have my doubts, sometimes.”

She shook her head again.

“So that’s the root of one our fights, one day, and it was … bad. Really bad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Chloe so angry … but to be fair … I was kind of angry, too.”

Max nodded.

“So … in the moment, you two break up.”

Rachel nodded, herself.

“Yeah … I think you can see where this is going.”

Rachel looked down the hallway to make sure their conversation was still private, before looking back to Max.

“I was … pretty fucked-up after that. Big ol' tears. Ugly crying. Shaking like a leaf in the wind. Whole nine yards. I storm into Frank’s RV after finding it and just sort of … collapse on his couch.”

Max kind of _could_ see where this was going …

Rachel sighed, and crossed her arms.

She looked down to the floor, and her voice was so gentle.

“Frank comes out and he’s just … so kind. So nice. So supportive. He’s always been so wise and cool and badass … sometimes I think I have a type for the bad folks. Particularly when they show you they’re a total softie underneath.”

Max smirked, a little.

There definitely were some similarities between Chloe and Frank …

Rachel looked up and frowned.

“Things got … complicated. While Chloe and I weren’t speaking Frank was there for me, consistently, and I get … attached.”

Max sighed.

“Then things cool off with Chloe …”

Rachel closed her eyes and nodded gloomily.

“… then Frank and I decide to keep it on the DL … to avoid hurting Chloe. If she knew her … _our_ … anger resulted in me getting with Frank … _ugh_. No. Just … _no_. I _can’t_ hurt her like that. I … love her too much.”

Max sighed, wearily.

What would she do, in Rachel’s shoes?

If she really was so desperate and vulnerable?

Could she blame Rachel for getting attached to Frank in that situation?

Or Frank for putting himself in that situation?

“I think you should have told her.”

She could blame her for keeping it from Chloe, at least.

Rachel nodded, and opened her eyes again.

“… I did, is the problem.”

Max blinked.

This was news to both parts of Max’s insanity.

Rachel looked past Max to Chloe’s door, and then back to Max.

“I … just one day, I went … _fuck it_. All of the little white lies just … weren’t worth it anymore. We were so close to leaving, so …”

She bit her lip.

“I try to come clean as much as possible about things. But …”

She sighed.

“I was right. Chloe did _not_ take it well … she started being really mean to Frank, and then Frank got angry, and then I got angry, and …”

She brought her hands up to hide her face, sniffling.

“It’s all my fucking fault. I just … I shouldn’t have told her … everything would be okay … everything would be okay …”

Max bit her lip.

For some reason, she felt obligated to comfort Rachel, even though she would never do something like that.

Whatever.

She’d probably tell more if she thought Max was on her side.

Max closed what distance remained between them so she could place her hand on Rachel’s shoulder and tightly, comfortingly squeeze it.

“Hey … shhh. Just let it out. I’m here.”

These words felt … wrong, coming out.

Too nice.

What if someone saw her being this nice?

To Rachel, of all people.

Rachel had herself a few moments of crying, but Max was patient, occasionally checking the hallway to make sure they were still private enough.

For not entirely, but at least mostly selfish reasons.

Eventually, Rachel brought her hands down, and her eyes were so red and raw with the tears.

Max knew this sight was rare.

Rachel, vulnerable.

She hadn’t seen it before, and she knew how intentional that was.

But this was a particular moment, with Max being trusted to some part of Chloe’s life.

“I never knew you could be so, comforting, Max. You’re kind of …”

Max smiled, barely.

“… a bitch? Yeah, I know. How about you keep this … _revelation_ to yourself?”

Rachel laughed just barely, and shook her head.

Max still squeezed her shoulder, but decided this was enough for now, and pushed off of her to keep her hands down by her sides.

“Sure, Max … maybe you weren’t such a bad choice for mediator.”

Rachel looked down the hall way.

Max smiled, just barely.

When Rachel looked back, she cleared her throat.

“What do you think about … all of this crap?”

Max sighed.

“Honestly? I don’t know. I’m conflicted. Why did you think you could have both Frank and Chloe at once?”

Rachel smiled, and pushed off the wall.

She took one of Max’s hands and started to tug her deeper into the hall way.

Max just blinked, but allowed herself to be lead like this.

“Just imagine it, Max … close your eyes. Go on an adventure with me for a moment.”

Max decided to oblige Rachel as she was being lead.

“You’re in some beautiful lush modern apartment … looking over the sunny Californian beach.”

Max hummed thoughtfully.

“It’s 72 degrees outside. The windows are open. You’re in bed, so fucking relaxed … you can smell the beach, hear the waves crashing, feel the gentle humidity … there’s a gentle tick-tick-tick from the ceiling fan above, on a lazy low setting …”

It was pretty easy to picture with Rachel’s imagination going so wild and vivid – Max was getting a little lost in the fantasy.

“… and you’re warm, so warm, because …”

Rachel suddenly stopped.

Max did, too.

Rachel squeezed the hand that she was holding, tightly.

“… you have one person on one side of you holding your hand, squeezing it every so often …”

Max suddenly felt a desperately gentle and seemingly affectionate stroke on her cheek, and blinked her eyes open with a surprised gasp to see Rachel right there, smiling gently.

She’d been doing the cheek stroking.

She released Max’s hand and crossed her arms.

“… someone else, on your other side … stroking your cheek, since they’re just so fucking in love with the way your mouth gapes when you’re so relaxed and chill and just at peace with the world.”

Max blinked.

She had to admit Rachel had a way with words.

She could visualize it all quite perfectly, and it wasn’t even difficult with her eyes open.

Rachel shook her head and closed her eyes after a second or two.

“It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?”

Max sighed.

“I mean … yeah … but ---”

Rachel opened her eyes.

“--- but? But what. It’s not _fair_ , Max. All I want to do is see the world, explore everything there is to see, touch everything there is to touch, hear everything there is to hear – experience it _all_.”

She raised her hands on either side of her body and did a small twirl, poetically.

When she stopped,

“… and I want to see it with a few, really good, really close friends. And I was so, so … so close to making real, tangible progress to that goal.”

She frowned.

“But the world … it’s cruel … and mean … and unfair … sometimes … I was so close …”

She sighed.

“But ultimately so far. And now I’m even farther than where I started … Neither Frank _nor_ Chloe will even talk to me. Let alone go along with this … wonderful vision of tomorrow. This poetic justice.”

She slumped her shoulders and brushed past Max, walking back to her old spot in front of Chloe’s door.

Max just blinked, not sure why Rachel felt so overwhelming all at once, but decided to follow her anyway, resuming her old position as well.

Rachel crossed her arms.

So did Max.

“So, Max. You’re our mediator. Can you tell Chloe to chill? And … talk to me again?”

Unlike earlier, when Rachel shared her fantasy and her words came out certain and voluble, these came out fragile and gentle.

Max hesitated.

The dissonance came back.

Chloe deserved better than Rachel.

Or did she just deserve someone who would try and make it up to her …?

“You’ve … hurt her, Rachel.”

Rachel scoffed.

“Understatement of the year. I know. This is … this is all on me.”

Max hesitated some more.

It was quiet for a few awkward seconds while she considered.

“How are you going to make it up to her?”

Rachel scoffed again, but it was gentler, and more amused than offended this time.

She smiled, somewhat, and wiped a strand of hair behind her ears again.

“Well … if she starts talking to me … again … I want her to know she really is my everything, and I did everything I could to … keep her safe from this crap.”

Max considered.

Rachel breathed in deep and sighed wearily.

“And look I know I –“

Rachel looked down the hallway before back to Max,

“- I know I’m like … we’re not the best for each other. We get angry and … we’re not perfect. But no one is perfect. And I want to improve, for Chloe. She deserves better. I want us both to take anger management courses after this together and just --- try to _learn_. To be _better_.”

Max blinked.

She definitely wasn’t expecting to hear all of that …

Rachel sounded like she genuinely wanted to make it up to Chloe.

Max certainly related to the sentiment.

Rachel spared one more look down the hallway before biting her lip, and breaking her arms apart.

She fished into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small velvet gift box hinged on one side –

Max’s eyes went wide –

“And - not for nothing, but ---”

Rachel opened the box, revealing an unassuming silver ring,

“--- I was going to propose, right then and there. If, things went … better. Chloe deserves some, y’know, commitment. Especially after all of this.”

She closed the box and shoved it back into her jacket’s pocket.

Max was speechless.

After a few more seconds of processing, she cleared her throat and shook her head.

“That’s … _damn_ , Rachel.”

Rachel smiled.

“I shouldn’t have to tell you, but - you know how short my family’s been on money -- everyone knows. It was – difficult - to get enough money for this … but it’s worth it.”

She bit her lip.

“Just, um. Don’t tell Chloe. Please.”

Max nodded, still a little shell-shocked.

Like wow.

“I mean … of course I won’t, Rachel. I guess I’m pretty convinced …”

Was she?

Max didn’t really know.

There was that conflict in her, again.

Surely some transgressions could never be forgiven.

Could Chloe even trust Rachel after all of this?

The commitment would probably help with that, at least …

Max still felt like Chloe deserved someone else, but Rachel was going all out to make it up to her after her mistake.

Just like Max was, now.

Fuck.

Rachel just smiled.

“Rad … well, let me know how it goes. In the meantime, if you want to know about anything else - I’m here.”

Max nodded.

She didn’t have anything else to talk to Rachel about, did she?

Nathan’s name suddenly floated in her mind.

Nathan was the last one to see Rachel.

Right?

She might know something about all of that.

About all of what?

Dissonance.

“Uhm … do you know much about Nathan?”

Rachel blinked.

“I meant if you wanted to know anything else about Chloe and I … but yeah, sure. What do you want to know about ‘em? I figure you probably know him better than me …”

Max blinked.

Of course she knew Nathan.

Nathan was a good friend.

And an enemy?

The dissonance didn’t even feel that weird anymore, it just was.

Whatever, brain.

“Yeah, just looking for some lurid gossip, is all …”

Rachel smirked and rolled her eyes.

“Sorry, Max, can’t help you there, as tempting the offer is. I haven’t been hanging with him that much lately. He’s been really busy helping Jefferson anyway, you know.”

Max nodded.

Rachel then frowned.

“But I hope you all feel bad about what you did to Kate. That poor girl didn’t deserve that … at _all_.”

Max frowned herself.

Of course she felt bad about Kate.

She felt good about Kate, too.

This dissonance felt more perverse than the others – and the conflict in her memory more insane.

She remembered both Kate dying, and it being partially her fault, and Kate living, and it being partially her responsibility there too.

Perhaps usefully, the conflicting memories gave her equally conflicting emotions, which sort of combined and canceled out into this vague nothingness.

Max wasn’t happy for Kate, but she wasn’t sad about it, either – which _surely_ wasn’t a sane response to having gone through what she had.

Still.

“ _No one_ is happy about what happened to Kate. Victoria hasn’t been the same since.”

Max sighed.

“Believe it or not, we thought it’d help her to loosen up a little.”

Rachel sighed and raised her hands up in mock surrender.

She just shrugged.

“I can’t really understand how bullying her could have helped her … but I guess I have to trust your heart was in the right place in a situation that looks bad and morally compromising with hindsight, if I’m asking you to do the same thing, huh?”

Max smiled, just barely.

So did Rachel.

Max wasn’t expecting Rachel to understand, though some part of her was telling her this was forced on Rachel’s behalf so Max would still be warm to the idea of getting Chloe to talk to her.

Not like it would help Rachel’s case at all to chide Max about this stuff.

“I guess not. Like you said … no one’s perfect.”

What terrifying relief that statement had, now.

Rachel sighed wearily and nodded.

She crossed her arms again and rested more heavily against the wall.

“Yeah … I’m just glad my mistakes only got me blood on my hands, instead of a tombstone. Now … if there isn’t anything else …? I’d like some alone time.”

She hesitated.

“Let me know how it goes with Chloe, though.”

Max nodded, but smiled, barely.

“Yeah, of course, Rachel.”

The two shared that weak smile for a few seconds, then Max turned around to enter Chloe’s room.

“And Max … thanks. Even if you can’t convince Chloe … it’s nice to talk about this stuff. And feel understood, y’know?”

Max smiled a bit wider.

She wasn’t sure if she really understood Rachel, but the additional perspective helped.

And it helped to think she was doing what she thought was the best in the moment, even if that eventually resulted in a seriously fucked-up situation.

Something Max wished she didn’t relate too much to.

“Of course, bitch. I love talking.”

Rachel laughed.

 

Chloe had managed to doze off for a bit when her door opened again.

She groaned, but then saw Max.

So she smiled, but just barely.

“Heyo, bitchy. How’d the talk with Rachel go?”

Max smiled, too, and scoffed a little at the pet name.

Still, she made her way back to the chair and sat back down.

She crossed her arms and sat up straight.

“Better than I expected.”

Chloe looked over to her carefully and blinked a few times.

“Really.”

Max nodded.

“She - really cares for you, Chloe.”

Chloe groaned.

“She got to you, too, damn.”

Max frowned, though Chloe’s tone was more playful than serious.

“I’m being serious, Chloe.”

Chloe sighed.

“She cheated on me, Max. Someone who cares for me wouldn’t do that.”

Max nodded, carefully.

“She made some mistakes, yeah … do you think she loves you still, though?”

Chloe went quiet.

She crossed her arms.

And sniffled a little.

“… yeah.”

Chloe looked out her window.

Max sighed.

“And do you still love her?”

This response took even longer.

“… yeah.”

Max smiled, and stole one of Chloe’s hands to hold it between two of her own.

Chloe didn’t resist, this time.

“Just …”

Chloe looked back to Max, and frowned a miserable thing.

“It’s not fair, Max.”

Max nodded.

“Nothing ever is, is it?”

Chloe groaned and looked forward.

“Imma need you to be a bit less real with me, Max. Crack a joke or something.”

Max smiled.

“Well … I could stab you, then you could get your free ice cream.”

Chloe laughed, and it felt good to make her laugh.

She looked back to Max.

“Now you’re talking. But seriously Max, how can I ever trust her again?”

Max closed her eyes and sighed.

She remembered Chloe talking about Rachel cheating on her before, impossibly.

_I’d kick her ass, but … we’d eventually get over it._

Max opened her eyes.

“I’m not sure if it’s a quick thing … you’re both imperfect, angry assholes, you know … but if you really love someone, you can overcome any obstacles.”

It felt cliché to say, but some part of Max believed it.

Chloe sighed and looked forward again, clearly considering.

Her expression became neutral, and her voice gentle.

“Yeah … I guess none of us are very perfect. I don’t know, Max.”

Max nodded and squeezed Chloe’s hand.

“I’m not telling you to take her back unthinkingly. Just … talk to her? See if you can work this out.”

Chloe considered some more, and sighed again, more deeply and wearily this time.

 

“I guess … after three years, she deserves that.”

 

Max smiled.

Chloe did, too.

 

Some part of Max wanted a hug from Chloe, but Chloe refused.

Max got her hug from Rachel, instead, although she didn’t even have to ask for it, since Rachel immediately hugged her at the news that Chloe would talk to her again.

 

As Max left the hospital, she had so many things to think about.

Should she have convinced Chloe to talk to Rachel again after what she did?

Most parts of Max said yes.

They really cared for each other, and some part of Max unfortunately knew what it was like when Chloe was without Rachel.

But only some part of her knew this.

Dissonance.

At least her dissonance was getting easier to understand.

It wasn’t that she had two randomly conflicting thoughts – if she really pulled back and looked at the whole picture, she remembered _two separate lives_.

At the same time.

This had to be some kind of insanity, right?

And the two Maxes lived so totally different of lives.

She could remember making out with Chloe, in the pool.

She could remember making out with Victoria, in front of her friends.

She could remember shooting a gun with Chloe.

And how happy she was.

She could remember getting her first perfect report card after Victoria’s teachings.

And how happy she was.

Maybe this is what it meant to have a split personality?

One of them had to be fake, though … right?

There was another, weirder option her mind suggested.

The Max that Max was pretty sure wasn’t her, at least completely, thought she could travel through time.

This Max tried that to no avail.

Unsurprisingly.

She did the exact same thing the Other Max thought she had to do when she wanted to control time.

So … the other Max had to be the fake one.

Right?

But the memories just felt so real.

Maybe it was like reincarnation, or something?

Max frowned.

She didn’t remember being so fucking conflicted before.

But her memories were all confusing and conflicted now, anyway.

 

When she got into Victoria’s car, just outside the hospital, the dissonance had Max remember both versions of Victoria at once.

And all of the emotions that came with it.

Fear, attraction, superiority, inferiority …

It was enough to slightly overwhelm her, and keep her from habitual form of greeting Victoria.

And Victoria noticed, with a frown.

“Is it bad?”

Max shook her head.

“It’s … complicated. Chloe will be fine physically, but I don’t know emotionally.”

Victoria scoffed and looked forward.

“Big mood. I don’t know if I’ll ever forget about Kate.”

                                                  

And what a mood it was.

Now that Max’s insanity was getting easier to understand, the emotions that came with it were there, too.

Conflicting, but not numb.

And Kate was …

Max didn’t want to think about Kate.

It was still such a fresh wound.

Kate’s letter implicated basically the entire Vortex Club, and Wells had no choice but to ‘formally’ disband it.

Among other disciplines for the individual members.

They wouldn’t be having any more events on campus.

 

Both Victoria and Max were pensive on the ride back.

Max could smell Vodka, eventually, on Victoria’s person, and she frowned a little.

“Did you drink while I was visiting Chloe?”

Victoria scoffed.

“One shot. I’m _fine_.”

Victoria wasn’t fine, and they both fucking knew it.

Max found the bottle, eventually under her seat, with a small, weary sigh.

Out of all the people Max knew could describe as less than perfect, Victoria was surely the most less.

Max ran her thumb and fingers over the bottle, looking at it plainly but not really absorbing any information on the bottle.

It was just an excuse to think.

At their parties, drinking wasn’t uncommon.

School was stressful, expectations on them were high, things weren’t easy.

A little bit of alcohol here and there went a long way to smooth things over, especially on Friday.

But this felt … different.

It was the afternoon, but still before dinner.

Victoria shouldn’t be drinking at the very least for another few hours, if not at night.

And certainly not while driving …

But Max trusted Victoria’s judgement, mostly.

If she said she had one shot and she was fine, Max believed she only had one shot and she was fine.

 

Max looked out the window and continued to piece together her mind.

The longer she spent doing so, the easier it was to understand the two personalities she apparently now had.

There was this Max, who was Victoria’s girlfriend, and a successful Vortex Club member.

This Max had everything she wanted, at least until Kate’s death.

Her life was pretty much all going swimmingly.

Beautiful girlfriend, good grades, good future potential.

If Victoria and she got _that_ serious, then, well, she’d end up pretty rich, too.

She smirked, slightly.

But there was the Other Max, too, who was Chloe’s girlfriend, and none of those things.

She mostly seemed to be a worse version of This Max, but Other Max could see some advantages.

Fucking time powers, for one. Even if this was just more of her insanity, those would be fucking useful.

The Other Max was also far more willing to comfort people – more compassionate. She didn’t care so much about being judged as being a softie.

So the Other Max’s connection to Chloe left more raw, genuine, complete, somehow.

It wasn’t anything like This Max and Victoria.

Other Max and Chloe cried their eyes out with their pathetic emotions but came out of it more bonded and together than before.

This Other Max had been trying so, so, so hard to make it up to Chloe … which explained where that motivation suddenly came from, This Max figured.

 

Her thoughts ended when Victoria parked the car.

“Take the bottle with you. We’re going to need it.”

Max smirked, but it was a sad kind of thing.

Victoria sounded so, so drained, and sort of limply, numbly made her way out of the car, without even bothering to look at her makeup to make sure it was all up to spec.

Max shoved the massive bottle of Vodka into her jacket and left the car.

When they reached their hallway, Max handed Victoria the bottle, and they spit for the afternoon.

They had some stuff to do for the afternoon, but had plans to spend the night together.

Max wanted time to think about stuff, anyway.

 

 

When the night came, Max was in Victoria's room, and this wasn't an unusual thing at all.

She rested plainly on her bed.

Victoria had greeted her with a hug, but almost immediately went to her desk to do not one, not two, but three shots of Vodka, back to back, with not so little as a harsh breath or a shiver or much of anything.

Victoria was unusually, and somewhat worryingly, good at doing straight shots of Vodka.

She did at least have the presence of mind to chase it with some water.

But then she just sat down at her desk, with one arm put across it, her body slumped towards it, and the other arm’s elbow resting on it, so her face could rest on that arm’s hand.

Her palm was wide, and each finger supported a different part of her forehead.

This wasn’t all that unusual when Victoria had tough, stressful days.

At least now it was night time and more appropriate for drinking.

And This Max wouldn’t have given it much mind.

She would have just kept poking at her own phone, gossiping with Taylor, or doing whatever else to kill the time on Victoria’s bed, until Victoria was done stewing and came to the bed with Max to try and forget stuff in a much more pleasantly distracting way.

And This Max felt satisfied enough in being a good girl friend to be ready to provide that kind of distraction.

And, hey, free drinks.

But the Other Max was here, too, and she was upset at This Max.

Strange how insanity had developed that they were now so totally and discretely different individuals.

So the urge came, and Max sighed, putting her phone away.

She took a shot of the Vodka herself, and while the taste wasn’t easy, and while she shivered and had a harsh breath afterwards – something Victoria always found cute – she knew it was an efficient way to get drunk, and the taste wasn’t the point.

She stole some of Victoria’s water, too, and after putting it down, she went behind her computer chair and rubbed at her shoulders.

Victoria tensed up _immediately_ , as though the touch was violating.

And maybe it was – it certainly wasn’t their routine, and both knew it.

But Other Max wasn’t going to shut up until she at least tried.

“Hey …”

This Max wanted to add ‘sexy’ but was overruled.

After a few more awkward seconds of Victoria being tense, she slowly accepted Max wasn’t going to go away, so she groaned and sat up straight, loosely crossing her arms.

She didn’t look up to Max quite yet, though, instead just closing her eyes and breathing a harsh thing.

It’d still take a couple more minutes before they’d start to feel the alcohol, and Victoria was usually a much more affectionate person when drunk.

“Can’t you just … wait, until I’m too drunk to care about this shit?”

Victoria still sounded so awful, and this successfully tugged at Both Max’ heart strings.

Max leaned over to kiss at the top of Victoria’s head, and although this got an annoyed grunt out of her, Max secretly suspected she enjoyed it.

“I mean … I could. But … today was rough. Don’t you want to talk about it?”

This Max didn’t really want to talk about Kate, but Other Max sure as fuck did.

Victoria made an amused sound and stood up from her chair to walk over to the part of her desk with the alcohol and take yet one more shot.

“No.”

Damn, Victoria.

Victoria kept the shot glass in hand and didn’t turn to face Max, so Max had to sigh and come up behind her.

This time, she hugged her from behind.

“C’mon …”

Victoria went through the same cycle of stiffening before relaxing after a few seconds, accepting that Max wasn’t going to back down on the affection.

She did sigh, tough.

“What the hell has gotten into you? Just let me drink in peace. Like you always do.”

Max frowned, a little, and released Victoria to walk around to her front.

And while Victoria did look a bit more relaxed, her face was still akin to death, and she was still frowning.

Victoria, of course, had a point.

This Max thought this was stupid.

She should just let Victoria get drunk, then they would have sex, and everything would be fine for the night.

And she was almost able to convince Other Max of this.

Max crossed her arms, too, and looked down.

“I just … this isn’t like a stressful school project, Victoria. Someone died … because of us.”

Victoria sniffled.

“You think I don’t fucking know that?”

Max looked up and frowned.

“But ---”

Victoria grunted and shoved the shot glass into Max’s chest.

Max grunted, herself, but accepted it.

“--- No talking. No feelsy shit today. I’m done. If you want to drink and fuck, fine, I _so_ could use that right now, but … you’re not my fucking therapist, Max.”

… owch.

This hurt and cut into both sides of Max well equally.

Other Max remembered Victoria opening up around her, and they weren’t even girlfriends then.

Just what the hell was this between her and This Max?

Still, This Max did want to be whatever she could to Victoria, even if feelsy talking was dumb and girly.

She took another shot, which seemed to appease Victoria more.

The taste was so awful, though.

At least the shot from earlier was starting to kick in, and it made everything a bit easier.

“Two more. Like me. Then just … shut your pretty face up and fuck me, already.”

Damn, Victoria …

Max looked down to the empty shot glass and ran her fingers along it.

Victoria’s voice was uneven, and she was sniffling.

This clearly was not a healthy way to cope with her issues.                                                  

And Max was conflicted, again.

This Max was now worried about Victoria, and concerned that they had gone wrong, somehow, someway.

Other Max was worried, too, but less viscerally.

Weirdly, Other Max was more okay with Victoria doing so many shots in a row, since she was used to Chloe coping like that.

This Max only saw Victoria drinking so heavily rarely, in especially low points.

Maybe …

Maybe some alcohol was fine, sometimes.

Maybe if Victoria just needed a night to fucking fall apart, like Chloe, that was okay, sometimes.

Max could still be here for her.

“Okay.”

Max poured herself another shot, and it went down more harshly than the last two.

She breathed heavily afterwards, put the shot glass down, and rubbed harshly at her forehead.

Damn.

Victoria kindly gave her some more of her water to drink, Max finished this water bottle off, carelessly crunching it and tossing it back before pouring herself one more drink.

She felt sick when this shot went down but didn’t throw up.

Victoria grinned.

“You know … you’re really fucking sexy when you do shots like that …”

Max spared her a look, still trying to get rid of the flavor out of her mouth, but only squeaked when Victoria suddenly shoved her onto the bed.

This was the Victoria Max was more familiar with, during these moments.

This Max, at least.

Victoria crawled on top of her, and they both laid lengthwise on the bed, with Victoria coming up to stroke affectionately at her cheek.

And they kissed.

But it –

It felt conflicted.

This Max was too worried now that Victoria didn’t really trust her, and she was just a sex toy.

If they couldn’t even have a conversation after something as serious as this … when could they?

Despite more of the shots starting to be felt, Max made a complaining noise and brought her hands up to gently push Victoria off.

“Victoria …”

Victoria frowned, a deep and miserable thing.

“Max …”

And her voice was dangerous, and low.

She crossed her arms.

Max frowned.

“… do you not trust me? Can we not … _talk_ …”

Victoria uncrossed her arms to flick at Max’s shoulder.

“I fucking told you. You’re not my therapist.”

Other Max was ruining her.

Max frowned, deeply.

Without the thoughts and understanding Other Max had, Victoria would have been more convincing.

But Max knew, now, that there was something more to Victoria.

“Then _let_ me _be_ that to you, Victoria, I ---”

Victoria shoved Max, and sniffled, and closed her eyes.

“--- No. Max. _Shush_. Or leave.”

The more Max pushed and Victoria resisted, the more it cut into This Max, and the more it worried Other Max.

Max sniffled.

Her world was getting a bit blurry, and it couldn’t have all been from alcohol.

“What did I do wrong …? it … _hurts_ when you push me away, Victoria …”

This then, caused some hesitation in Victoria.

Max wasn’t sure how far she wanted to go, tonight.

Both Maxes at least agreed that she should get Victoria to talk, but … they had different feelings, for different girls, and it was a confusing mix.

She tried to mostly put it out of her mind and focus on the way Victoria’s face fell, and how she groaned, and how she raised a hand up to rub at her temples, and how she went quiet, for a while.

“Max … it’s … it’s not you.”

Victoria closed her eyes and sighed.

“I just … really don’t want to think about K-Kate. I fucking … can’t, without … ugh. _No_.”

Max watched her carefully.

Both of their voices were just so fragile right now.

“So … what? You’re just going to … keep running away? With Vodka or sex or – whatever?”

Victoria nodded carefully.

“Ssssomething like that … and I _need_ you to help me with it, Max. I … can’t do this on my own.”

Max hesitated.

“That’s not … health … healthy.”

Victoria scoffed, amused.

“I fucking know …  that. And I don’t care.”

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, again.

“I know you don’t want to … really think … about Kate either, Max … so please … shhhhhut that pretty face of yours up already and make out with … me.”

Max was so conflicted.

She wanted to talk about Kate, to deal with their issues, to not pretend like they weren’t both sort of fucked-up from this whole thing, but … she also didn’t.

Other Max wondered, briefly, if this was what it was like between Chloe and Rachel, near the end.

Chloe said Rachel needed her escapes …

Victoria sniffled again.

“Or am I not sssexy enough for you … any … anymore? T-too fat, right? Or ---”

Shit.

Victoria wasn’t handling Max’s hesitation well and seeing her so vulnerable and self-conscious tugged at both Maxes pretty effortlessly.

Max moved forward and kissed Victoria on the lips.

This felt better, this time.

Less conflicted.

 

Victoria melted from the meaningful affection from Max.

 

In the moment, Max just couldn’t say no and hurt Victoria.

She wanted to help her, to help others, and it simply hurt to see her like this.

Just like she wanted to help Chloe, and it hurt to see her drowning herself in beer, earlier, when she found out about Rachel’s infidelity.

Victoria passed out before they got too into things.

Afterwards, Max just rested her forehead on Victoria’s own and started to cry.

Not open, pathetic sobbing, but crying all the same.

 

This Victoria was fucked.

Other Chloe was fucked.

Max felt pretty fucked, too.

Worrying about everything, and now her own insanity in the mix …

Being drunk wasn’t fucking helping anything, either.

With nothing to distract herself from her thoughts, all she could do was spiral.

Until she eventually just closed her eyes and passed out.

 

The next morning, Max woke up before Victoria, for a change.

It must have been pretty early if she beat her to waking up.

Victoria always got up at the same time to exercise.

Max sighed and gently peeled herself away from Victoria’s bed.

She stood up and crossed her arms with a small yawn.

She didn’t feel very rested, but at least her sleep was peaceful and dreamless.

She needed water, her body told her, so she went to get another bottle of it out of Victoria’s desk and start drinking it.

Max just looked at the sleeping Victoria while she drank it.

This Victoria wasn’t the one others saw.

Here she was much more vulnerable; their clothes hadn’t come off last night but they had sure gotten ruffled, and their hair messed up while making out.

Victoria looked pretty cute with her hair all messed up and her face dopily gaping while she gently rested.

That thought felt a little guilty, but not fully.

And it was weird.

This Max and Other Max didn’t know how to reconcile being obviously romantic with Victoria while being obviously romantic with Chloe.

Max just wanted both girls in her life to be as happy as possible.

And Other Max existed in like … some alternate universe?

This Chloe was with Rachel.

So if her conscious ended up in the other world that Other Max knew, she’d just be Chloe’s girlfriend.

And here, she’d be Victoria’s girlfriend.

Ugh.

This is not what a sane person thinks like.

Max groaned and raised her hand up to rub at her temples.

Multiple universes?

How the fuck did she get to the point she was seriously considering this?

She was just insane, somehow, some way.

Believing she was multiple people at once.

It just felt so fucking real.

How did this even happen to her?

She wasn’t always like this, was she?

No …

It was …

Max blinked.

Her jacket had come off at some point, and was on Victoria’s couch, so she walked over to it to fish in its pockets to find that damn mysterious photo.

This photo …

This photo is the only thing that helped Max to think she wasn’t insane.

This photo was simply impossible to exist in this world.

There’s no way This Max could have gotten it, and the Other Max had a legitimate reason for having it.

In fact … that’s how she got here, wasn’t it?

She just … looked at it?

Max looked at the photo some more, but Other Max’s memory once again failed her, since the photo didn’t behave as it did then.

It didn’t shimmer or glow.

It was just a photo.

A photo she had no way of having legitimately …

Fuck.

 

The only way this photo made sense is if Other Max was right, too, and somehow collided with This Max to form this much more broken, more insane version of Max.

Max was slowly talking herself into believing she had magic powers or something …

Fuck.

 

She sat down on the couch and just stared at the photo.

She wanted it to behave like Other Max remembered, so she could validate she wasn’t insane.

Or did she?

Maybe she just wanted to stare at it long enough to convince herself Other Max only existed in her head, and she really was insane.

Either way, she stared at the photo.

 

Eventually, Victoria woke up, and grumbled miserably for a few seconds.

She sat up and looked confusedly at Max, then at herself, then just sighed and got up from the bed to get herself a bottle of water, too.

After she killed the entire bottle in one breath, she crushed it and placed it next to her bottle of Vodka, and walked in front of Max.

“What are you staring at?”

Max looked up from the photo.

“Good morning to you, too.”

Victoria sighed, and rolled her eyes.

“Good morning. What are you staring at?”

Max shrugged and offered the photo.

“I dunno. What do you see?”

Victoria eyed Max carefully, but took the photo anyway.

“It’s a photo of Chloe and Rachel kissing. Obviously.”

It took a second or two to process, then Victoria blinked and handed it back to Max.

“Wait. How did you get that? You haven’t been talking with either for … like, ever. Did Chloe give it to you at the hospital? Who gets a print of a stupid group selfie, anyway?”

Max shrugged, again.

She stared at the photo some more.

“I don’t remember.”

Victoria sighed, and raised a hand up to rub at her temples, with her other arm crossed over.

“We _did_ do a lot of drinking last night …”

 Max looked up, again.

“Yeah … are you feeling any better?”

Victoria shook her head.

“Not particularly. But I’ll feel better tonight, when I start drinking again.”

Max looked down and sighed wearily.

“I hope so …”

Victoria frowned and bit her lip.

Max sounded so … drained.

Exhausted.

Overwhelmed.

She considered so strongly talking to Max about Kate and – everything.

Out of everyone, she could probably trust Max the most.

But Victoria just didn’t see what good would come from relitigating their mistakes.

It just seemed better to not dwell on it and try and forget about it.

Not like she could fucking rewind time and take her actions back.

This was just going to be with her forever, now.

So instead, Victoria walked over to her closet, and started changing into some athletic wear for her morning run.

Max just stared at that damn photo the entire time.

When she finished, Victoria got another water bottle for her run.

She considered just leaving, but paused halfway to the exit, and looked carefully at Max.

She walked over to her and took the photo out of Max’s hands.

“If you keep thinking about this stuff, you’re going to be fucking miserable all day long. Just –-”

She tried to tear the photo but it was a fucking polaroid and plastic or something and didn’t yield to her efforts.

“--- Hey, give that back!"

More importantly, Max got up and took the photo back from Victoria with a deep frown.

It was quiet for a few seconds, after that.

Victoria frowned, too, and crossed her arms.

Max crossed her own.

It was tense, but Victoria just sighed and uncrossed her arms.

She closed her eyes.

“Just … move on, Max. Forget about Kate. No point in talking about it. We can’t fix it. We’re just … mean, evil bitches, that caused her to kill herself. There’s no heaven for us.”

When she opened her eyes, Max had closed her own too, and was looking down at the floor.

“You don’t really think that …”

Victoria shrugged, even if Max couldn’t see it, and marched over to her Vodka bottle and back to plainly shove it into Max’s hands.

Max blinked her eyes open and awkwardly took it.

“I do. I really do. And that’s why I drink. And that’s why you’re going to want to drink just as much, too, when you finally accept that.”

Max stared at the bottle, and ran her fingers along it, considering.

Victoria sighed and started walking to the door.

“Just … I don’t want to lose you, Max, and you’re already acting … _weird_. I’m going to go for my run. Please think about what I said.”

Max fell onto the couch with a weary sigh herself.

“Okay …”

It certainly gave her something to think about.

Victoria hesitated just for a second or two longer, but nodded and left Max to go do her morning run.

 

When she was gone, Max deflated more and more into the couch.

She looked at the photo, slightly wrinkled by Victoria’s efforts to tear it, and the bottle.

Maybe Victoria was right.

Maybe it was best to just … not think about this crap.

Her insanity.

Kate.

How she mistreated Chloe.

How Chloe and Rachel might never be happy.

How she couldn’t talk to Victoria about the deep stuff she wanted to, let alone stuff like her insanity.

Maybe all this worrying was just killing her, and she really couldn’t do much to fix it.

If Other Max was right, even magic time powers didn’t fix everything … Chloe was still hurt.

And it’s not like she could rely on fucking magic.

Ugh.

Max realized the bottle of Vodka still had its top off from last night with a small amused sound and lifted it up to take roughly a shot.

She wasn’t going to drink too much, and it tasted awful, even if she had the water right here to chase it.

But … it helped to take the edge off.

Fuck.

 

Max sniffled, put the bottle down, and stared at the photo some more.

She wanted Other Max’s Chloe.

She wanted someone she could talk to about anything, and know she wouldn’t be rejected …

She needed someone to talk to about this insanity.

Victoria wasn’t that.

She was a lot of things, and Max knew getting drunk and having with sex with her a lot would probably help her to just simply not care about Kate or what she had done, but …

Did she even want that?

Max sniffled again, starting to cry more openly, and she felt herself falling apart.

She was fucking insane and felt so alone even with a girlfriend whom she just woke up next to.

Max closed her eyes tightly and looked to the ceiling.

She placed one of her hands on her forehead and rubbed harshly.

The tears were falling now, and fuck did she hate crying.

If she had a little bit more Vodka, would this go away?

Maybe another shot, or two, or three … until she just wanted to fuck her girlfriend and didn’t think about this crap.

When she looked down, and opened her eyes again, the photo caught her eyes.

 

It was shimmering.

 

Max blinked.

Holy shit.

Was Other Max right?

 

Max looked away from the photo.

If she looked at it too long and Other Max was right, she knew … something, would happen.

Maybe the answer wasn’t to do another fucking universe jump – if that was really what was going on.

This universe wasn’t the best, but, it felt more stable.

Chloe and Rachel might be able to work out their stuff.

Victoria and Max might be able to, too.

Maybe Victoria just needed a bit more time and encouragement.

Kate was dead, but … you can’t fix all of your mistakes, right?

And Nathan not wanting to fucking murder everyone was an obvious benefit.

 

But Max felt so alone.

Maybe Victoria could be encouraged and eventually coaxed, but Max needed someone right _now_.

She couldn’t talk about real stuff with anyone in the Vortex Club – certainly not about her insanity – and that was pretty much This Max’s entire social circle.

Who knows how long it would take to repair stuff with This Chloe enough to have real conversations with her – and maybe they would just simply never get to that point.

This was driving her fucking insane.

She needed to talk.

She needed someone to validate her and her emotions.

She needed Other Max’s Chloe.

She was still crying, gently, and when she looked back, the photo still shimmered.

 

She took one more hit of the Vodka bottle and really stared at the photo.

 

Until her thoughts

slowed

down.

 

Her world was

white.

 

But peaceful

content

dreamless.

 

Yet

 

Max had a wish

a desire

and she closed her eyes

 

and wished for it, like nothing else.

 

When the whiteness faded to the colors everything ought to be, Max blinked through her eyes but didn’t see anything.

Not really.

It took her a few seconds to process stuff, her mind was so slow and inefficient.

But she was ---

She was in bed with - Chloe! – and – they were together – and – it was still early in the morning – and –

Max smiled.

But when not one, not two, but three Maxes remembered things about Chloe at once, seeing her beautiful sad-looking face, Max groaned so painfully, so loudly, and with a pathetic whimper, raised her hands up to shield her eyes.

Fuck.

This insanity actually _hurt_ now.

Her hands were shaking.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Max was actually killing herself now and –

“Shhhh … Max … holy shit.”

Chloe was there.

Max stopped thinking about everything for a few seconds as Chloe pulled her into her possessive, damaged, loving hold.

For a little while, at least.

Then, sniffling pathetically, Max peeled her hands away, though they were still shaking miserably.

She looked at Chloe, and Chloe looked so concerned, so worried.

“Uhm … Chloe … what … what stops … s-shaking? Smoking?”

Max brought her hand up to Chloe to show it.

Chloe’s eyes widened, and she went quiet for a few seconds.

“Max …”

Max closed her eyes and sniffled.

“Chloe … please …”

Chloe sighed, but nodded.

“Yeah … that and a beer. Little early to be drinking, but … I assume you’ve got a fun time traveling story to tell.”

Max shuddered.

But didn’t resist as Chloe helped her off the bed, down the stairs, and out into the back yard.

They sat on the swings out there.

Thankfully, Max’s insanity didn’t fracture to all of the way back to when she and Chloe were kids, so the memories weren’t jarring, conflicting, painful.

There was just Max, there.

Chloe lit a cigarette and gave it to Max.

She then dutifully opened a beer bottle, and gave that to Max, too.

Max wordlessly took them both with a smile, and sort of hesitated on the smoking.

The first hit was the hardest, and she coughed the worst – she coughed a lot – but Chloe was there to comfort her and pat at her back.

And after a few sips and a few hits, her nerves did calm down, some.

She didn’t shake so much.

She could relax, a little, and close her eyes.

 

Eventually, Chloe cleared her throat, and Max looked to her with a strained, but genuine smile.

Chloe wasn’t smiling, though.

 

“Max … we need to talk about your time travel stuff … this is … _look_ at you.”

Max looked down at herself, and sighed.

“I know … Chloe.”

She took another sip and another hit and looked to Chloe.

“You have … _no idea_ how much I want to talk, right now …”

Chloe smirked, and put both of her hands on the chains of her swing seat, and started to gently rock back and forth.

 

“Lay it on me, Mad Max. The whole story.”

 

Max Mad never felt so appropriate a nickname, before.                                                  

But now, Max was starting to kind of like it.


	11. Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max accepts the consequences of her actions.
> 
> Chloe accepts Rachel is gone.
> 
> Nathan accepts his fate.

Chloe woke up to a very delicate scene, although she arrived at it worryingly, with Max making such a pained sound.

They were in bed, after a pretty difficult and emotional night.

But this was … different.

This agony Max had wasn’t emotional, or at least, not in whole.

Chloe could see _immediately_ that there was just this awful physical pain on Max’s person, even with her brain being slow to wake up.

Max was shaking.

She brought her hands up to hide her face, and it looked like her nails were digging into her skin, desperate to claw away the pain.

Max’s nose was bleeding slightly.

Oh no.

Time travel crap …

Chloe bit her lip, but she knew what to do.

“Shhh … Max … holy shit.”

She tried to soothe Max’s damage, though she knew it to be impossible by now, by bringing her arms about Max’s body and hugging her close and tight.

So warm.

Chloe had always been one for tight, affectionate hugs, and Max deserved them the most when she just _tried_ so hard she damn near killed herself.

What kind of self-motivation did Max have to do this to herself …?

All for Chloe …?

The worse the effects of her time travel got on her, the more Chloe worried about her girlfriend.

This looked especially bad.

She could feel Max whimpering, groaning, and just shivering pathetically –

But Max did relax, somewhat, after enough care and warmth.

Chloe couldn’t relax, anymore.

At least not like this.

With the revelation that Rachel had more-or-less cheated on her, Chloe’s world had been unfairly and cruelly tipped on its head.

Chloe had tried so hard, so very very hard for Rachel, and her reward was only agony and suffering.

Betrayal.

And now …

Chloe was seeing Max make the same mistake.

When was enough enough?

Max had already done so much for Chloe; she didn’t need to prove her loyalty anymore.

… well.

Chloe had some self-awareness that the situation with Nathan could still result in Chloe feeling betrayed – but – should it?

What if seeing Nathan really hurt would hurt Max?

Could Chloe hurt Max like that just for her revenge?

Revenge for someone that didn’t even care about her that much in the first place?

Ugh …

Chloe had done a lot of thinking about how Rachel’s infidelity warped her world, pretty much all last night.

She knew it was wasting time until they had to talk with Nathan – which was in a few hours, now, probably – but she just didn’t care, at the time.

The conversation felt less important now that Chloe didn’t even know if she wanted to find Rachel, anymore.

What would she say if she did find her?

How angry would she be?

Would Rachel apologize, or just try to smooth things over?

Would Rachel even care …?

While Max continued to recover in her arms, Chloe thought about some of her memories with Rachel.

The problem was, even with know what she did know, it didn’t retroactively change the emotions and experiences she had in the past.

All it did was explain some things, like Rachel being a little dodgy here and there.

It just …

How pathetic did this make Chloe?

Trying so hard to find Rachel, literally falling apart for her, just to have her go and do this …

Maybe Chloe was being a little unfair, and the context helped to explain why Rachel did what she did, but it didn’t erase the guttural emotions, the sheer overwhelming feeling of betrayal.

Maybe betrayal wasn’t even the right word.

It was a weird sort of revelation that had to shift her entire world view, since her entire world was Rachel.

It recontextualized everything she said and did – all of the times she went to see Nathan, the time she spent with Frank …

Chloe sighed internally.

She didn’t know what to think of Rachel anymore.

But she didn’t have to think about Rachel, anymore.

Max was here.

Chloe looked at Max some more, and she’d finally recovered enough to look up to Chloe.

It took Max a few tries, but she managed a pathetic,

“Uhm … Chloe … what … what stops … s-shaking? Smoking?”

With one of her hands raising up to show just how much of her body was shaking and trembling from the pressure.

Chloe blinked a few times.

Max wasn’t recovering well at all …

And now she wanted to smoke to chase it away?

No …

Chloe couldn’t let Max fall into that cycle.

She could do better than be another Chloe, running away from her bullshit with drugs and alcohol.

“Max …”

She tried to put as much worry in her voice she could to communicate this without verbalize it, but Max just swallowed, and she looked so pained, and her tremble was so heart-breaking.

“Chloe … _please_ …”

Chloe didn’t know what to do.

Maybe once would be okay, but … that’s how everyone starts.

Maybe Max just needed this once since whatever time travel stuff she did was especially difficult on her.

… what if she kept doing that, though? Would she need more and more?

Chloe sighed, but found herself relenting out of her affection for Max.

Just like when Chloe couldn’t bring herself to tell Rachel ‘no’ when she wanted to do drugs.

Whatever.

“Yeah … that and a beer. Little early to be drinking, but … I assume you’ve got a fun time traveling story to tell.”

Max drinking a beer was just a cute concept in Chloe’s mind, since she knew how she’d respond to the flavor, and it would be endearing and cute and silly and precious.

Even if Chloe didn’t want her addicted, she felt more comfortable with Max having a beer instead of a smoke, though she knew from experience both being a wonderful way to vent out some stress.

Max just nodded quietly and shuddered, blindly accepting Chloe’s advice.

She miserably shoved her face back into Chloe’s side, and still couldn’t stop her shake.

Chloe bit her lip.

 

But she got up from the bed and helped her girlfriend down the stairs, since that’s what a good girlfriend would do, goddamn it.

There was a certain tranquility to Chloe’s backyard that she knew Max would appreciate.

A little bit of nostalgia would help, too, she figured.

Either way, she picked up a beer along the way and helped Max into one of the swings.

Max immediately collapsed into herself, hunching over as though a weight had been placed on her back, and her arms tightly crossing to hug at herself.

She was still shaking so badly … fuck.

The longer it took for Max to recover from these episodes and the more obviously pained she was, the more Chloe wondered if Max’s time travel powers were a gift or a curse.

Still, Chloe was here for Max right now, and her number one priority – maybe her only priority anymore since she found out about Rachel – was making Max happy.

So she patted herself down for a cigarette, since she usually had at least one on her, and handed it to Max after lighting it.

Max just barely smiled in the most fragile but still evident way as she took the cigarette from Chloe and just looked at it, clearly hesitating.

Chloe handed her the bottle of beer too, after opening it, and just studied Max’s features.

Eventually, Max took a hit, and did the adorable thing of coughing a lung up, and Chloe was ready to lean over and consolingly pat at her back.

She was quiet while Max slowly worked through it, taking a few hits of the cigarette and slowly getting better.

She also took some sips from her beer and Chloe noticed _immediately_ Max didn’t respond to the drink, she just drank it like water.

Like Chloe drinking beer.

Fuck … what the hell _had_ happened to Max?

Max slowly calmed down and her shiver started to go away the more escapism she consumed.

Of course.

Chloe bit her lip and just watched her.

Max closed her eyes and seemed to be breathing more easily.

But … she shouldn’t _need_ this to calm down.

Chloe couldn’t help her worry anymore, and she cleared her throat.

Max blinked her eyes open and looked over to Chloe, and she was smiling somewhat, but Chloe wasn’t.

 

“Max … we need to talk about your time travel stuff … this is … look at you.”

This immediately killed Max’s smile, but Chloe wasn’t expecting anything else.

Max looked down to herself, one hand holding a beer, another a cigarette, and sighed wearily.

“I know … Chloe.”

 

At least her voice sounded better.

Less stammering and shaking.

Max still took another hit of both the cigarette and the beer – with the beer being mostly gone now – and looked back to Chloe.

 

“You have … no idea how much I want to talk, right now …”

 

Chloe smirked.

At least Max was admitting there was a problem – maybe they could work through this right here, right now.

She put both of her hands on the swing set and started to childishly but gently and slowly swing.

 

“Lay it on me, Mad Max. The whole story.”

 

Max smirked herself, finished the beer, and put it down.

She started to swing with Chloe, though their paces were different, and they weren’t synchronized.

Max was quiet for a while, seeming to obviously think about stuff.

At least that reminded Chloe of the Max she knew, and not this damaged Rachel-like Max.

Max eventually stopped swinging with a groan and raised her free hand up to rub her temples, looking down miserably.

Chloe frowned, but stopped swinging herself and got herself up with a bit too forceful of a gesture before waltzing over to stand in front of Max and bend her knees a little to be on Max’s level.

 

“Hey …”

Max sighed, and she sniffled when she pulled her hand away, but she tried to smile for Chloe when she looked up to her.

Chloe just kept looking at the cigarette in Max’s hand and how wrong it looked.

Dissonance.

“I uhm … I’m not sure I know the story.”

Chloe blinked.

“Huh?”

Chloe spent one, two seconds considering, before smirking.

“Do a lot of drinking in some time travel stuff or something, Max?”

It was playful, and a joke, but all it did was kill Max’s expression again, and cause her to look down gloomily, again.

“… yeah, actually.”

… oh.

Chloe sighed and stood up straight.

She crossed her arms for a second or two and closed her eyes.

Max had already been doing a lot of drinking, somehow … probably just to sustain doing her time travel crap.

Chloe shook her head.

This was too far.

Max was pushing herself too much.

Kate was – Kate was one thing, but this was just too much.

Chloe opened her eyes, uncrossed her arms, and leaned over again to place both of her hands on Max’s shoulders and drag her up into a standing position again.

Max made a surprised sound, but was more than happy to be hugged in Chloe’s front and melt into her just so.

Chloe kissed at her forehead and hugged Max tightly for a few seconds, then pulled away and took one of her hands to interlock their fingers and squeeze it.

Max looked delicately up at her.

“What do you remember, then, if not the whole shebang?”

Max closed her eyes and sighed.

She took one more hit of the cigarette, blew the smoke away from Chloe, and looked back to her.

“A lot … and none of it agrees with each other.”

Chloe blinked.

“Huh?”

Max sighed and turned around, breaking the contact with the hand, but using the newly-freed hand to maneuver Chloe’s arms around her about the belly and waist.

She leaned her head back and just rested it on Chloe’s chest.

Chloe pushed her face into Max’s hair and just closed her eyes with a sigh.

Max swayed very gently from side to side and Chloe moved with her.

“I just … I did something weird … with that photo you gave me.”

Max didn’t sound like she was done, and she wasn’t.

“I was just looking at it … crying, because I wanted to … fix this. Fix you. Prevent this from happening.”

She sighed.

“And I did, kind of.”

Chloe blinked, and removed her face just enough to talk without it being muffled by mophead hair.

“Huh?”

Chloe wasn’t being particularly eloquent right now, and it made Max smile just barely.

“Yeah … all of the sudden my body felt weird. Um. Everything was white. And I felt like … uh.”

Max made a flat grunting sound before shaking her head barely,

“You know when your leg falls asleep and the blood is first coming back to it?”

Chloe nodded thoughtlessly.

Max sighed.

“My entire body was like that … including my head and brain. It was really weird …”

Chloe hummed thoughtfully, trying to imagine it herself.

“Another time travel ability?”

Max shrugged.

“I’m not sure. All I know is I made a wish … for Rachel to be alive and tell you the truth.”

Chloe tilted her head to the side, slightly.

“… and then what?”

Her voice got quiet, and low.

Max bit her lip.

“Uhm … it’s hard to piece together … but … I _think_ … I came to … in a hospital. You had been stabbed.”

Chloe blinked.

“Ain’t that a bitch.”

Max laughed without meaning to, and it felt good to laugh.

She relaxed more comfortably into Chloe’s front, took another hit of her cigarette, and then dropped it to smush it with her shoe.

“Yeah. I guess the wishes are kind of like a Monkey’s Paw kind of thing … Rachel was there, though.”

Chloe stiffened, and Max noticed.

“… and?”

Max closed her eyes and sighed.

“She had told you the truth, but … you didn’t take it well, and you got stabbed by Frank.”

Chloe grumbled.

“She should have told me …”

Max nodded and tried to look up to Chloe.

“… and she wanted to, Chloe …”

Max turned around so she was facing Chloe, again, and leaned up for a kiss.

Chloe returned it with a sigh.

“She cared for you, a lot. It was tearing her apart to see you hurt from this.”

Chloe closed her eyes and looked down in consideration.

Max bit her lip.

“She just … she didn’t want you hurt. _I_ didn’t want you hurt. No one wants you hurt …”

Max raised one of her hands up to stroke delicately, affectionately, at Chloe’s cheek.

Chloe whimpered, but moved her face more into Max’s hand to absorb the affection.

“It’s not fair …”

Max nodded, gloomily.

“Nothing ever is.”

Chloe scoffed, but it was a sad thing, even if she was just barely smirking.

“Max …”

Max raised her second hand up, since Chloe seemed fragile now, and needed the comfort.

Then she leaned up on her tippy toes for yet another kiss.

But just one didn’t satisfy Max – she needed more.

Max delicately made out with her girlfriend while feeling her whimper and slowly work through the emotions of Rachel.

And it was nice.

Max could get lost in this, and not have to worry about the insanity in her mind, and all of the conflict.

Even just remembering the hospital stuff was hard, since she also remembered another use of her time, watching Chloe fall apart after learning about Rachel, and going to bed gently with her.

But at least now she understood this insanity was just the weirdness of her powers.

Her memory was just difficult, now …

Eventually, Chloe collected herself enough to raise her hands up and take Max’s own.

Their fingers intertwined and squeezed, and Chloe brought them down to their waists.

Then, she opened her eyes, and looked plainly down at Max.

“So … anyway … how did you end up … back here, I guess? If Rachel was still alive and all …”

Max looked down and sighed.

“I … was weak. Rachel was alive, but … Victoria was my girlfriend, and I just couldn’t talk to her about anything.”

Chloe blinked.

“I’m finding it hard to believe Victoria was your girlfriend.”

Max smirked barely and looked back up to Chloe for a second or two.

“Well it happened whether or not you believe it, _bitch_.”

Chloe blinked, and gaped her mouth stupidly for a few seconds.

Max just giggled and looked back down.

“That Max is in here, too, somewhere … anyway, Victoria is an … _interesting_ girlfriend, but … I couldn’t talk with her like I talk with you. She was cold when I needed someone to be warm.”

Chloe just kept on blinking, but eventually recovered from her shock of seeing such a sharply different version of Max bite her verbally like that.

“Well … that sounds like her, at least.”

Max nodded gloomily.

“So I … find that photo again.”

She sighed.

“And then I wished to be with you.”

She looked back up.

Chloe still felt so overwhelmed at … everything, but, still.

“But … Rachel was alive. We both ---”

Max shook her head with a frown.

“--- I know, Chloe. I’m sorry but I ---”

She looked around, anxiously, before back to Chloe.

“--- I just have to try a little bit harder. That … universe was so close. I just need to try again. I can do it. I know I can.”

Chloe bit her lip, and suddenly found herself conflicted.

Max was able to save Rachel, but … Chloe, this Chloe, would never know it.

She would never see Rachel’s touch again, or hear her laugh, or see her face, no matter how much Max screwed with her powers.

And Max was …

She was changing, in a way Chloe wasn’t entirely sure she liked, from all of this time travel crap.

It was one thing to see Max more confident and outgoing, but it was another thing entirely to see her personality start to change – to see that flash of bitchiness – to see her turn to smoke and drink when the consequences of the travel were too severe.

“Max …”

Max blinked and looked carefully at Chloe.

“What?”

 Chloe sighed.

“Rachel is gone, Max. You’re all I have left now, and … just look at you. You’re putting so much burden on yourself to fix this stuff and ---”

Max frowned more deeply,

“--- and I can! If I just … try! I have fucking magic powers, Chloe! I just need to find the right things to say! Or do and! ---”

Chloe pulled away with a sigh, looking down at the floor.

“--- the Max I know would never raise her voice at me like that.”

It didn’t remind Chloe of her Max.

It just reminded her of Rachel.

Max went deathly silent, with her mouth just gaping stupidly.

Chloe crossed her arms.

“Even if you do save Rachel … I won’t feel it. Some other Chloe will be happy, but … I’ll be here. Unaware."

She finally looked up.

“Only I won’t have you. And I can’t … _can’t_ lose you, Max. And …”

Chloe sighed and looked off to the side for a few seconds.

“It seems like you’re already slipping away from me.”

She looked back to Max, who was still completely shocked, unable to process the accusation.

Chloe uncrossed her arms to gesture to the cigarette and beer bottle.

“This is what Rachel would always do. She would always get this … idea, in her head. The way the world _ought_ to be. And the stress of trying to make everything work was … so much on her.”

Max numbly looked down to the offending items.

Chloe hesitated.

“That’s why she turned to the drugs … that’s why we got so bad … that’s how I lost her, Max …”

Max sniffled, then crossed her arms miserably, and started to properly cry.

Chloe hesitated again, but sighed, and walked back to Max to wrap her arms around and hug her possessively, tightly.

Max was so broken, so warped from her powers … but this can’t possibly be irreversible.

They just needed some peace and quiet instead of adventure.

They just needed to work on each other, instead of the cosmic injustices of the world.

They just needed to make a life worth living, instead of trying to fucking run away.

“It’s okay, Max …”

Max cried openly, pathetically, raggedly, for entirely too long.

She relaxed herself in Chloe’s possessive hold, trying to fully process her request, and understand her shattered mind.

What did she really want?

What did Chloe really want?

Chloe patted at Max’s back.

“Shhhh … I haven’t lost you yet, Max … but I want you to stay. No more photo stuff …”

Max just sniffled.

“It’s not fair, Chloe …”

Chloe smiled, barely.

She pulled away just enough to look down at Max and raise a hand up to twirl one of her strands of hair.

“Nothing ever is, is it?”

Max met Chloe’s gaze, and emitted a pathetic sobbing-laugh.

 

And for a second, they shared a smile, despite the heavy emotions they were working through.

Quiet.

 

But it didn’t last, and Max sniffled again, looking down at herself.

“Are you sure, Chloe …?”

Chloe hesitated, but nodded.

“Let that other Chloe have her Rachel … I have you, Max. We’re both happy this way.”

Max repeated that pathetic sound, and buried her face into Chloe’s chest.

She patted herself down until she found the photo sightlessly, and numbly put it in one of Chloe’s hands.

She tightened Chloe’s hand around it.

“Then … take this. I’m just going to be … tempted … so long as I have it.”

Chloe looked down to the photo in her hand, and the sad Max buried into her, and used her free arm to tightly hug Max close.

Max continued to cry, but it was softer and quieter.

Chloe could feel her melt into her grasp.

She brought the photo up and looked at it, carefully.

So many memories …

This was probably one of the harder photos for her to look at.

Or it _was_.

When Chloe looked at it this time, she didn’t think about how Rachel disappeared immediately the next day, and how stupid she was to have not told Rachel to stay, or –

None of that.

She just remembered the way Rachel’s hair gently fell onto her face.

She just remembered the way Rachel giggled, and how they playfully flirted about being each other’s number one.

She just remembered the way Rachel smiled, and kissed her.

She just remembered the way they spent the entire night snuggled together, watching the stars, and each other.

Chloe teared up at the memories and sniffled harshly.

She closed her eyes, looked up to the stars, and tried to locate Leo.

It didn’t take her very long.

Even though her world was blurry, she brought the second hand down with the first, hugged Max more tightly, and breathed uneasily, shakily.

 

The both of them just cried.

But it felt nice.

Therapeutic.

Cathartic.

 

Afterwards, the two walked side-by-side back up to Chloe’s room, and collapsed on her bed.

Max wanted to smoke weed with Chloe, but Chloe just wanted to spend some quality time with Max.

So instead, she found her old photos of Rachel, and they snuggled up with one another.

Max was finally so intertwined with Chloe’s life she was allowed her most precious memories and thoughts.

And they laughed, and they cried, and they were scared, and they smiled, together.

It was difficult for Chloe, but there was no one else she wanted to have this part of her life known so intimately.

And Max looked so happy when all she could think about was the silly antics Chloe and Rachel got up to.

The conversation with Nathan was in a few hours, probably, but Chloe didn’t care.

Chloe just wanted to spend quality time with Max.

 

So she did.

 

The early morning ticked over, and Chloe felt … good.

 

“Are y’all up yet? Breakfast!”

 

Chloe looked over to Max.

The two were laying, facing each other but not in contact, with a bunch of old photos between them.

Max looked up to Chloe.

“Shower together?”

Chloe giggled and nodded, but then dramatically got up and reached into Max’s bag to pull out her camera.

“Sure … but I want to give you a photo to replace the one you gave back. Let’s re-create it.”

Max smiled.

“Really …”

She slowly got up from the bed and walked up in front of Chloe.

Chloe nodded, and brought the camera far away from herself, but kept it pointed at them both.

“Yeah.”

She suddenly got an impish grin.

“I dare you to kiss me right now, hipster.”

Max smirked, but she didn’t hesitate.

She got up on her tippy toes, placed both of her hands plainly at the top of Chloe’s chest, pushed herself into her, and warmly kissed her girlfriend on the lips.

 

Click.

 

Max pulled away after the camera went off and carefully took the still-developing photo that it produced.

Polaroids took a while to develop, so this was going to be meaningless white noise for a while, but … still.

She put it down near the other photos, of Rachel and Chloe.

Then, she got an idea, and with a smile, took the main photo album Chloe had, to put the fresh photo under the protection of lamination in there instead.

 

Chloe blinked, but slowly put the camera down on the bed and watched Max.

She expected Max to take the photo …

But instead, it looked like she was adding it to the photo album Chloe had with Rachel.

She wasn’t taking it with her.

This was just part of Chloe’s life now.

Part of her memories.

And Chloe didn’t …

She didn’t know how to handle that.

She was tearing up, for some stupid reason, and crossed her arms, as though that would help.

She tried to steady herself and do what she always did when she didn’t know what to say.

 

“So, um … who’s a better kisser, Max? Me or Vic?”

 

Max smirked, and looked up to Chloe, though her hands still ran over the lamination and other photos.

 

“Well … my memory’s a little fuzzy, these days … how about we find out in the shower?”

 

Chloe smirked herself, too.

Damn, what a morning.

 

They decided to make it even better.

Giggling, they made it to the shower, and there was no awkwardness in being naked around each other, anymore.

Neither did the touch cause anxiety.

But they mostly focused on making out and washing, despite the opportunity for more fun, since Joyce was expecting them down, anyway.

Chloe still kind of wanted to wait for a special moment.

Max dressed mostly in Chloe’s clothes, but did put on her habitual hoodie with it.

It was pointed, and cute, so Chloe stole one of Max’s animal tees, even if it was slightly tight on her.

That just made it look better.

The pink of one of Max’s silly deer shirts just added some color to Chloe’s otherwise drab attire.

Plus, Chloe thought it looked pretty good with some black distressed skinny jeans and one of her jackets.

Just a little bit of effort …

 

Chloe always liked stealing Rachel’s clothes.

Now, she liked stealing Max’s clothes, too.

 

They giggly made their way downstairs, but a lot of the oxygen was sucked out of Chloe as she saw David sitting at the table with Joyce.

Joyce and David looked plainly at Chloe and Max.

Joyce’s expression became warm and seeing them holding hands.

David, however, just put his elbows on the table and folded his hands underneath his chin.

Damn it.

This was such a good morning … but of course, all good things have to come to an end.

And David had his “time off” just like Max did.

Somewhat awkwardly, Max started walking to the table, and gently tugged Chloe along with her.

Just like Rachel …

Chloe thought about complaining, but decided this would go by quicker if she just ate her food and they went back up to their room.

So they plainly sat down and looked at their proffered food.

There was silence, and it was awkward.

Quiet.

Joyce cleared her throat.

“Well. Y’all sure took your sweet time.”

David spared her a look.

“Even though you showered together …”

While it was in the realm of possibility that only one of them showered … David knew better.

Chloe scoffed.

“How’d you know that? Put one of your damn cameras in there too?”

David sighed, and shook his head slightly.

Joyce frowned, and so did Max.

Chloe just shoved some food in her mouth.

Joyce sighed, but had long since given up on saying grace, since Chloe would always start eating well before it.

David opened his mouth, but –

Max interrupted.

“We did. Is that a problem?”

There was this steel to her voice that Chloe wasn’t too familiar out of Max – maybe this was the Max from one of the other universes?

Maybe they were just combined now, and Chloe was always going to see dissonance like this.

Joyce and David blinked at Max’s voice, and Joyce softened her expression.

“No … of course not. Right?”

Max and Joyce looked to David.

David sighed, put his table cloth into his lap, and started eating his food.

“Of course not.”

Chloe smirked a little, since it was nice to see everyone team up on David for a change.

Max and Joyce slowly took to eating their own food, seeing the tension between David and Chloe simply simmer right now, instead of snap or crackle.

And for a while, there was that peace, where everyone just took to eating their food.

But eventually, David sighed, and put his knife and fork down.

“Chloe.”

Chloe spared him a look obliquely, while her face was still more pointed at her food.

“Your mother and I have been talking …”

Chloe frowned.

Precisely zero good things came of that crap.

She swallowed her food a bit too harshly and looked up properly to him.

Max noticed there might be some tension, so she stopped eating to take one of Chloe’s hand and gently stroke her thumb over it.

Chloe hesitated, but did relax somewhat from the affection.

David hesitated himself, looking at their affection for a second or two.

“… and we think it’s best if you spend this time off with us.”

Chloe scoffed, and almost crossed her arms, but Max had one of her hands, so …

Nah.

“Can’t think of a worse way to spend my time.”

David sighed wearily and closed his eyes for a second or two.

Max and Joyce frowned.

Max leaned over to Chloe,

“Give him one day?”

Chloe frowned herself, but considered.

Max looked over to David and cleared her throat.

David blinked, and looked over to Max.

“What did you have in mind?”

David blinked some more.

“The _three_ of us need some time to bond, again.”

The four frowned.

Joyce leaned over to whisper something in David’s ear, but –

Chloe dramatically raised the hand that Max was giving affection to a few inches.

“Max **stays** , dickweed.”

Joyce blinked.

“Chloe! Language.”

Chloe just grumbled and put her hand back down.

Max sighed, looking between the three of them, trying to find some way to diffuse this situation and keep Chloe happy.

She looked back to David.

“We have things to do today. But _we_ , the _four_ of us, can watch a movie, or something, tomorrow. As a family.”

Max delivered it with such certainly it unbalanced both David and Chloe.

Chloe looked carefully at Max … she was becoming such a self-confident badass, even if volunteering her to spend time around with David like that was just unpleasant.

But, what kept Chloe quiet about the whole thing … is how it reminded her of how Rachel handed the family stuff.

Joyce finally smiled and spoke before David could.

“That sounds wonderful, sweetie. We can ---”

David frowned, though, and looked over to Joyce,

“--- No. We agreed, today and tomorrow. We can’t back down now.”

Joyce sighed wearily and spared David a _look_.

It didn’t bother him, though, who just looked back at the two.

“No deal. If you must, you can stay, Max, but … both days. We had both days fully planned out. Whatever you’re doing can wait.”

Max frowned.

She thought what she offered was a good compromise, and that wasn’t enough for David …

Chloe just shook her head, and leaned over to Max.

“Just go along with it and we’ll sneak out. Fuck’em.”

Max looked briefly, helplessly to Chloe, but sighed.

“Alright. We can do that.”

Joyce blinked, but smiled.

David visibly flinched, as though shocked, but quickly shook his head and went back to eating.

He wasn’t smiling, though.

“Good.”

Neither were Max and Chloe.

But the four of them ate their food, anyway.

 

As breakfast was finished, they made some excuse for going back to their room, and left via Chloe’s window, giggling as they got into Chloe’s truck and drove off.

Fuck David and his plans.

 

They _did_ have stuff to take care of, anyway.

Chloe handed Max her phone after quickly unlocking it.

“Text Nathan and Victoria to come to the junkyard. He’s ‘crazy psycho’ and she’s ‘jealous bitch’, respectively.”

Max sighed but took to the task anyway.

While she was there, though …

Max snooped some in Chloe’s unlocked phone.

Seeing the photo of herself as the background was the most shocking thing, but it felt all warm and fuzzy.

And right.

Max had to set her phone’s background to Chloe, she decided.

If only she still had that picture of them kissing, that would have been even better.

Oh well.

Max’s name in Chloe’s phone wasn’t anything special, but with a slight smirk, she decided to change that.

She added a couple of heart emojis after her name and changed it to ‘Mad Max’.

She also added some skull emojis to Nathan’s name.

This was a fun thing she always did when Victoria handed her her phone.

That, and snoop for more gossip …

“You’re talking to Taylor?”

Chloe spared her a look, and it was confused at first, but then she figured out what Max was doing.

Then, she just scoffed, and leaned over onto one of her hands, shaking her head slightly.

“Snoopy snoopy … yeah. You know you can just ask me about this stuff instead of snooping, right?”

Max blinked, and carefully handed Chloe’s phone back.

She looked away and rubbed at the back of her neck.

“Yeah …”

Chloe smirked and put her phone away.

“You just can’t help it sometimes, I know. No one’s perfect.”

Max smiled, herself, and looked over to Chloe.

“Who are your friends, anyway?”

Chloe sighed wearily.

“I was gonna say I don’t really have any, but … nah. Steph is definitely my friend. Taylor’s chill. Justin and Trevor are fine … Hayden’s pretty cool for a vortex club dude, too. Uh. Used to be a friend with one of the security guards at Blackwell, believe it or not.”

Max blinked.

“ _What_?”

Chloe laughed.

“Yeah … Real chill dude named Skip. Wish David learned a thing or two from him when they hired him to replace him.”

Max sighed.

“David’s so difficult. I thought he’d give us _a little_ bit …”

Chloe shrugged.

“Told you. Dude’s a Nazi. Has to control every little goddamn thing. Don’t play nice with him Max, he doesn’t deserve it.”

Max sighed again, more wearily this time.

She hesitated, but decided this was worth pushing on.

“Did Rachel just treat him like you?”

Chloe went quiet for a few seconds.

“… no. She wasn’t nice to him, either. But we just … tried to get the conversations over with as quickly as possible, so we could go back to snuggling in the junkyard or whatever.”

Max considered, and realized that was more-or-less what they had done.

How many times did Chloe pull this trick of agreeing and then running away …?

Is that why David had so little patience?

Weird thoughts.

Max decided to drop it, for now.

“I wish he wasn’t so difficult …”

Chloe laughed.

“Fuck’em. Life isn’t fair, Max.”

Max smiled, herself.

“Nothing ever is.”

The two of them enjoyed the sentiment, and just looked off to the road, contemplating stuff.

They had to figure out how they were going to talk to Nathan, anyway.

 

When they parked at the junkyard, Chloe sighed and placed her head on the steering wheel for a few seconds.

This was really happening.

They were about to push Nathan as hard as they could for information on Rachel.

And Chloe was probably going to discover something awful, as a result.

Isn’t that she wanted?

Or was she going too far, like Max was earlier?

Would it be best if they just … stopped?

Max noticed Chloe was thinking heavily, and scooted over to rub at her shoulder affectionately.

She gave her the time to slowly sit up straight and look over.

Max removed her hand.

She then asked a wordless question with her expression, and Chloe sighed.

“Do you think we should stop now, Max?”

Max blinked.

“Stop?”

Chloe nodded.

“Just like … forget about this crap.”

Max sighed herself, and closed her eyes for a few seconds.

“I … whatever happened to Rachel, I think you deserve to know, Chloe.”

Chloe tightened her firsts on the steering wheel and breathed deeply.

She looked forward into the junkyard.

“… yeah.”

Chloe frowned.

“And if Nathan _did_ do something … he needs to be punished for it.”

Max sighed, and Chloe saw that concerned look out of the corner of her eye.

Her Max accepted Chloe’s need for revenge, but … what about this Other Max that came from more time travel?

Chloe looked over to Max more squarely.

“You agree, don’t you? He deserves to pay for the shit he’s done.”

Max just bit her lip.

“I don’t know, Chloe. I’m with you … but I’m just worried.”

Chloe leaned over to pull out the evidence and her gun from the glove compartment.

“Yeah … but he can’t just get away with this.”

Max hesitated.

“Maybe it’s not your job to punish him. Like it’s not my job to save Rachel.”

Chloe blinked, and sort of unthinkingly checked her gun to see that all the bullets were still spent.

“Maybe … maybe he’s not going to get punished any other way.”

Max sighed, but Chloe did have kind of a point.

Chloe grunted.

“Might have to wait until later, though. My gun’s empty and Vic will be here. I’m sure she’d defend him.”

Max nodded, slowly.

“She cares for Nathan a lot.”

Chloe hesitated, then looked up to Max from the gun and evidence.

“What was Nathan like in the other timeline?”

Max hummed thoughtfully.

“It’s uhm … hard to think about, but … I just remember him being busy with Jefferson a lot, kind of nice to Victoria and I, and … he wanted to hang out more with Rachel, but you wouldn’t let him.”

Chloe scoffed at this.

“I guess that’s how that Rachel stayed alive …”

Max just shrugged.

“I guess.”

Chloe went quiet, and sort of mindlessly pulled Nathan’s gun out from the evidence bag to unload it.

She pulled the slide back and ejected the remaining round to make sure it was totally empty before putting it back into the plastic bag.

Max watched her do this quietly, contemplating.

“Do you think that Chloe can be happy, Max …?”

Max smiled, just barely.

“Chloe … Rachel wanted to propose.”

Chloe looked up to the ceiling and whimpered quietly for a second, before breathing in deep and looking down.

“Fuck. I guess that answers that …”

She looked over to Max, and scoffed, and looked away, before again.

“I guess both Chloes can be happy, this way.”

Max smiled.

“Or … three. All three of you.”

Chloe blinked.

“Three?”

Max nodded.

“I remember … three lifetimes. Kind of. I’ve been thinking about it, but it’s really hard to piece it together, … the first Max ignored you for the full five years. The second Max ignored you past that, even when you were both on the same campus … the third one started talking to you …”

Chloe blinked very slowly, and completed the thought for Max.

“… as I was getting together with Rachel …”

Max smiled a bit more widely.

“Yeah …”

Chloe frowned, a little.

“What else is different?”

Max just shrugged.

“I … don’t know. Whenever I try to remember a point back then it’s just … conflicting, and confusing. The days are all just – jumbled up and ---”

Max groaned and raised a hand up to her forehead.

She started to bleed from her nose.

Chloe blinked rapidly and hurriedly scooted over to hug Max.

“Hey hey hey … shhh. Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to do that …”

Max whimpered.

“I --- I can’t remember _anything_ , Chloe --- I --- it’s a _blank_ fucking void and ---”

Shit.

Chloe put the baggie of evidence on the floor and scooted back, so she was flush against the driver’s side door, and she brought Max down to lay on her lap.

Chloe ran her fingers through her trembling girlfriend’s hair and face and cheeks.

Max melted, but still sniffled and whimpered.

“Shhh … it’s okay, Max. Just relax. I don’t need to know.”

They both closed their eyes, and tried to relax as much as possible, given the circumstance.

Fuck.

Did Max just have this trauma forever, now?

Whenever she tried to think too deeply about her multiple lives?

… could she even remember kissing Chloe?

 

Quiet.

 

After some not-too-pleasant considering, Chloe sighed and looked down to Max.

“Max … I think you should stop using you powers completely.”

Max groaned and turned her head to look away from Chloe.

“But …”

Chloe shook her head.

“But … _nothing_. I can handle Nathan without them. I don’t want to lose you, Max. I … I don’t think I can handle that.”

Max sighed wearily, but went quiet in consideration as they continued to relax.

 

Until a gaudy luxury car pulled up next to them, anyway.

Chloe patted gently at Max’s face.

“Nathan’s here …”

Max grumbled, but got up, and the two of them left the truck.

Chloe’s revolver was useless without ammo, but she still tucked it into her waistline about her front to make Nathan think it was a threat.

At least Max had calmed down.

Hopefully she didn’t think too much about her past or use her powers, since her having a break down during this conversation would be really difficult to deal with.

Fuck.

 

Nathan and Victoria got out of the fancy car together.

They looked as they always did, with Nathan shoving his hands into his jacket’s pockets, and Victoria glaring with her arms crossed.

Chloe noticed Max reacted differently to their presence – she didn’t get tense, unlike earlier.

Max grabbed Chloe’s hand and intertwined their fingers to squeeze.

She actually spoke first, when the two sets of two walked within earshot.

“Hey bitch. Last season’s tops are really suiting you.”

Victoria blinked, then scoffed, in honest shock.

Chloe smirked, since it was kinda fun to see Victoria like that, even if it was weird to hear Max talk like that.

But it made sense, at the same time.

She said she was Victoria’s girlfriend at some point, right?

Weird thought … but it probably meant she knew how to talk to her, now.

More leverage against Nathan.

Nathan, for his part, just scoffed, amused, and looked over to Victoria.

He took his hands out from his pockets to cross his arms.

“You going to let that little pipsqueak walk all over you?”

Nathan’s voice had this playful edge to it that was totally foreign to Chloe.

At least … it hadn’t been heard in so long.

Victoria spared him a _look_ , and cleared her throat.

She looked to Max.

“Says the bitch wearing that disgusting hoodie with band shirts and skinny jeans. Nothing about that _works_ , girl.”

Chloe blinked, but Max just smiled.

“Yeah … my girlfriend’s clothes don’t exactly work with mine. But I guess that’s a problem _you_ won’t have to worry about, huh?”

Damn.

Chloe was actually getting into this, since their bitchy banter was fun.

Is this what they were like constantly when they were dating …?

Weird thoughts, but decidedly amusing ones.

At this, Victoria just blushed and looked away.

“Ugh … whatever.”

Nathan laughed, and it felt weird to hear Nathan laughing.

He looked over to Max.

“Well … that’s new. What the hell got into _you_ , girlie?”

Max looked to Chloe and got up on her tippy toes to kiss Chloe on the cheek.

Chloe was still fully in love with the idea of Max just kissing her whenever the hell she wanted to.

Even if this Max didn’t fully feel like the Max she knew … Chloe was still so into her.

Max looked back to Nathan.

“Oh, nothing. I just decided to lower myself to Victoria’s level for once.”

Victoria scoffed again, and Nathan had his amused sound again.

“You should do it more often.”

Victoria grunted.

“Ugh. Enough. We’re here for _other_ things, aren’t we?”

The four of them exchanged looks.

Quiet.

Nathan grunted.

“Yeah. We are.”

His voice became more familiar; drained, low, a little scratchy.

He looked over to Chloe.

“I don’t got your money, Price. I wouldn’t even pay you if I did.”

Chloe frowned.

She considered being a difficult asshole, again, but she had a lot of leverage over Nathan right now, and wanted information.

Plus … she just told Max to not use her powers.

She didn’t want this to immediately go sideways.

Chloe reached into her jacket and pulled out the evidence baggy.

Nathan blinked, and his eyes widened.

Victoria looked between the two of them, and the plastic bag, trying to keep up with what the hell was going on.

“Nathan … I know you had the money on you. We … took this, and corrected your record. No one but Wells knows you had a gun, and I’m sure that doesn’t matter for shit without evidence. Just have daddy Prescott make him forget.”

She tossed the bag onto the floor between the two groups.

Nathan just looked at it, stunned.

“So … now I have the money, and you have your crap back.”

Carefully, but still clearly and brokenly shocked, Nathan walked over to the bag and picked it up before walking back to Victoria’s side.

The gun and the drugs … everything was here.

Except the money, but Chloe said she took that …

Fuck.

Nathan was expecting a lot of things from this conversation, most of them awful, but this wasn’t even remotely in the range of options.

He put the gun in his waistline and the drugs in his jacket, and just let the plastic bag fall.

It was a junkyard, after all.

You put junk in a junkyard.

Finally, he looked to Chloe, and frowned a little.

“And why the fuck did you do that, huh?”

Chloe opened her mouth, but ---

Victoria suddenly interjected.

The fact Nathan had a _gun_ now was fucking terrifying, but –

She had to be here for him.

“Nathan. They’re clearly trying to help you. We’re all trying to help you. We just …”

Nathan spared her a look, and it was vulnerable and fragile.

Max and Chloe blinked.

Chloe took a step closer.

“I just want to know what happened to Rachel.”

Nathan bit his lip, and looked back to Chloe.

“I can’t ---”

He shook his head.

“I … I told, you, already, w-what … happened to her.”

The old Chloe would have gotten angry at the obvious lie.

But Max was right there, and her grip was warm and steadying, and she squeezed Chloe’s hand, and Chloe sighed, and calmed down.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds.

When she opened them,

“You know I don’t believe that, Nathan …”

Nathan whimpered, and looked away from the three of them.

Victoria bit her lip and marched right next to Nathan to place a hand on his shoulder, and although he shied away from the touch, Victoria didn’t relent until he accepted it.

“Nathan … I’m so scared … and worried about you. Guns, Max’s room, drugs … Rachel disappearing. _Please_. I want my best friend back. Just … whatever this is. Let’s work through this. Together.”

Nathan whimpered again, and looked pathetically again at Victoria, so very vulnerable.

“You … you don’t understand! I can’t. He’ll _kill_ me if ---”

He suddenly went very quiet and pale, like he had seen a ghost.

The three remaining of them did much the same.

Quiet.

Chloe could hear the goddamn blood rushing by her ears.

Max took a step closer, and Chloe followed.

“Nathan … who is ‘he’ …?”

Nathan made a pained sound, and hid his face in his hands, but then he took one hand away to start smacking at the other – and his face, by extension.

“No! No no no … no-no-no … stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid ---”

Victoria felt like she was going to be sick at the news someone wanted Nathan _dead_ , but seeing him so self-destructive was enough.

Victoria stole both of Nathan’s wrists and tried to keep them down by his sides.

Max and Chloe got closer, too, until they were no more than a foot or so away.

“Nathan … shhh … calm down … you’re okay. You’re not stupid. You got this. Right? You’re Nathan … fucking Prescott.”

Nathan was almost crying, now, breathing so heavily and uncertainly.

Chloe hesitated.

“Nathan …”

Nathan blinked rapidly, breathing so quickly, but looked to Chloe.

“What …”

Chloe bit her lip.

It was now or never.

Nathan had tipped off that there was something _more_ , and Chloe would never find out the truth if she took out her revenge on Nathan without hearing about it.

“I will probably … never forgive you, for what you did to me, but …”

The four of them frowned, but Chloe just sighed.

“… maybe you can do right by Rachel. If there’s … someone else involved … I deserve to know. He deserves to burn …”

Nathan whimpered, and tried to hide his face again, but Victoria kept his hands, so all he could was bury his face into her shoulder and break down into crying.

“I think about Rachel … every _fucking day_ …”

His voice was so pathetic, so wavering, so impossibly broken.

Chloe bit her lip.

Fuck.

Victoria accepted Nathan into her side and raised a hand up to awkwardly but affectionately rub at the back of his head, trying to offer some measure of comfort.

If Nathan felt guilt about Rachel … maybe that was Chloe’s gateway.

She cleared her throat.

“Nathan. Do you remember Rachel’s 18th birthday?”

Nathan sniffled, but scoffed, and turned his head just enough to look at Chloe sidelong.

“Of course …”

Chloe smiled, just barely.

“She wanted to go out to some … huge, awesome party thing … she was going to invite all of her friends … we were going to party until the sun came up.”

Nathan closed his eyes and relived it.

Chloe continued.

“But then … she got so fucking drunk the night before … she stubbed her toe on something and could hardly fucking walk. So … she just crashes in her room instead … and invites us over to watch dumb movies all night.”

Nathan sighed wearily and pushed himself off of Victoria to face Chloe.

They both went quiet for a little while.

He finished the story, after an agonizing delay, and with his voice shaky and uncertain.

 

“And she said … even though it was so low-key … it was her favorite birthday party, yet.”

 

Quiet.

 

“Who is he, Nathan? Rachel deserves better than this.”

 

Nathan looked down and hesitated for an agonizingly long time.

 

Then, he breathed in deeply, and looked up to Chloe.

 

“Mr. Jefferson.”

 

The three of them, excluding Nathan, gasped.

 

Holy shit.

 

Things were suddenly a lot more fucking complicated.


	12. Nathan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathan explains Mr. Jefferson.
> 
> Nathan explains Rachel.
> 
> Nathan explains himself.
> 
> Nathan can't fuck this up.

The shock of the moment was thick and impenetrable for a few seconds.

The four of them just stood there kind of awkwardly, blinking, and trying to process the news.

Nathan wasn’t handling the silence well, though, and soon produced a whimpering sound.

Victoria shook her head, and tried her best to work through the shock.

But she was a long goddamn way from acceptance, right now.

“What … what do you _mean_ Mr. Jefferson?”

Nathan looked over to her and sighed gently.

While his face was still pointed at her, his eyes went down to the floor, and he put his hands into his jacket’s pockets again.

“He … orchestrated everything. He has a contract with my dad to … train me, or something.”

Chloe blinked.

She then frowned.

“Are you telling me he told you to abduct Rachel? And _he’s_ why she’s gone, now?”

Nathan very carefully and slowly looked back over to Chloe.

He bit his lip, and hesitated for a good few seconds, clearly considering.

“… yeah. _Chloe_. Rachel’s … she’s not coming back, Chloe.”

Victoria and Max gasped.

Chloe frowned more deeply.

One second, two seconds.

She started to breathe in more heavily and rapidly.

“Bullshit! Rachel’s … she’s still gotta be alive. You’re just trying to … cover shit up. Or something.”

Nathan recognized this tone, again.

It’d been a while since he heard it …

On the surface, there was this pained anger, so guttural, so hopeless, yet so violent.

But just underneath, teetering on the edge of always and never, this heart-tugging pathetic waver.

Nathan understood this denial as not being logical and Chloe already knowing that Rachel was gone, but … struggling for anything she could in a last-ditch effort.

And he saw Max tightly squeeze Chloe’s hand and turn to face her more directly, even cupping her cheek with her other hand.

Max seemed to know Chloe was _this close_ , too.

Nathan sighed, and looked down.

He then carefully reached into his back pocket and with great agony pulled out the last thing Chloe wanted to see.

 

Rachel’s bracelet.

 

“Chloe … I’m so sorry ---”

Victoria gasped again – even she could recognize the significance of that.

Rachel always fucking wore it.

She’d never take it off …

In her shock, she really couldn’t do much, though.

Her entire world was turning upside down way too quickly and uncomfortably for her to process things.

Plus …

Chloe emitted this pathetic screeching yelp and brought both of her hands up to cover her nose and mouth.

She leaned back and forward in a repeating motion and started to hyperventilate very obviously.

“No! No … no no no no no no --- no-no-no-no --- !”

 

Chloe kind of already knew.

That Rachel was dead.

She’d known for months, probably.

But …

She had to pretend.

She _had_ to pretend.

She had to tell herself that Rachel was still alive, and in LA, somewhere.

Or maybe … somehow … some way … Rachel just disappeared for a few months, and she would come back some day, and have an amazing excuse for why she was gone, and Chloe would be made out to the overreacting idiot she always was.

 

But even with her world blurry and shaking and moving and her face numb from the sudden rush of shock and adrenaline, the bracelet completely shattered her ability to pretend.

The cognitive dissonance was finally just too much to bear.

And her world shattered.

 

Nathan frowned sadly.

“Chloe …”

He didn’t really know what to say to keep her from spiraling, though, and it felt so awful to see Chloe break down like this.

Even if she was … a difficult, moody, unmitigated asshole, Chloe didn’t deserve what happened to Rachel.

No one did.

The guilt there was impossibly thick, and suffocating, and choking.

He thought about it every fucking day.

Every fucking hour.

 

Max got in front of Chloe and tried to deploy more affection to steady her, but Chloe broke away from the touch and took a few steps away, openly crying now and just repeating that ‘no’ again, and again, and again, and again, and again – higher pitched, more soft and pathetic each time.

Her entire face was in her hands now, and she was hunched over as though physically wounded in her belly.

Max bit her lip, and hesitated, clearly considering how far she was going to try and push Chloe, but after a few seconds in consideration she took the bracelet and calmly walked over to Chloe to rub at her shoulder.

It was hard to tell if she had any impact, though.

Chloe just crumpled down onto her knees and kept crying, but as Max followed her, she did accept Max’s arms coming around her to hug her and provide some support.

Fuck.

Max didn’t really know what to do or say to calm Chloe – there probably just wasn’t anything to say or do.

She was just there for her, being warm while Chloe was cold, and helping her through yet another awful trauma that she’d been in denial about.

She even considered getting Chloe a beer or something, but … she didn’t want to leave Chloe all alone right now.

 

Nathan closed his eyes and relieved Rachel’s last moments.

The sheer fight she had … that look of betrayal …

And her gentle smile, the second before she died.

He wondered what peace she found, in such an impossible situation … but he had a pretty good idea she was thinking of better times.

He sniffled and breathed a little shakily.

 

Victoria watched the drama unfold completely helplessly.

This was so much to take in, so fast.

Even if she hated Rachel, her death was … no.

Rachel didn’t deserve death.

Chloe didn’t deserve Rachel dying.

Maybe Victoria said some things in the past that she shouldn’t have, but … this was too real.

This was too much.

Mr. Jefferson was apparently involved in all of this … as was Nathan …

She took a few steps back and viciously rubbed at her temples.

She had a fucking lot to think about, right now, and it was taking a lot of willpower to not throw up at the idea she contributed to all this somehow by defending Nathan.

 

Some minutes later, Chloe had recomposed herself poorly.

She kind of already knew Rachel was dead … just she needed a moment to fully grapple with the emotions associated with it.

As though she hadn’t cried over Rachel enough already.

When she was done, she numbly stood herself up, with Max warmly offering her the support and comfort.

They kissed gently, and meaningfully, and Max gently stroked at Chloe’s cheeks, drowning in quiet sympathies, and Chloe gently stroked at Max’s sides, unbelievably appreciative she was here right here, right now.

Thoughtlessly, Max took one of Chloe’s wrists and started to tie Rachel’s bracelet around it.

Chloe just kind of stared at it and Max’s hand while she did this but didn’t complain or stop her.

There’s nowhere else that bracelet ought to be.

When she was done, Max took a step or two back, and wordlessly smiled at Chloe, though her face was still sad and her eyes still red and raw from sympathetic tears.

Chloe smiled just barely, too, and it felt weird to smile, now.

She then noticed Nathan and Victoria were still here, but had come to sit on the hood of Nathan’s fancy car in the intervening moments.

They had still had business to take care of …

Chloe automatically brought the hand with Rachel’s bracelet bracelet down low in front of her belly and stroked at it while she walked over to the car.

Max was with her every step of the way, not stealing Chloe’s hand this time since she saw what it was doing, but she did interlock their arms together just to be as close as they could be.

Chloe didn’t even have the words to express how much she needed Max right then and there … and how awful she might have gotten without her.

 

Nathan looked up when Chloe got close.

He and Victoria had been crying, some, too, but this was an emotional day for all of them, and incredibly difficult.

At least after they had emptied their tears they were more sober and able to handle the seriousness of their situation.

Chloe cleared her throat.

“If … Mr. Jefferson orchestrated everything … he needs to _die_.”

Max was with her on this, but …

“Chloe … you can’t just … _kill_ people … you’ll get arrested. Or something.”

Chloe frowned, but didn’t look to Max, although Victoria and Nathan did.

Nathan then looked to Chloe and sighed wearily.

He leaned forward and placed both of his hands on the hood of the car.

“Max is … right. You can’t just kill him. He’s got my dad in his back pocket … all of this fuckin’ shit looks above-board. The cops won’t do nothin’, but they’ll sure as _fuck_ arrest _you_.”

Chloe frowned more viscerally.

“There’s gotta be … something! Fuck! He can’t just get away with this shit.”

The four of them exchanged looks, and thought about what they might be able to do.

Max spoke first.

“What if … you turn yourself in, Nathan? Then he’ll get arrested and ---”

Nathan shook his head with another weary sigh.

He looked down to the floor.

“--- no good. He … he’ll just … fuckin’ … turn on me … and walk away … scott free.”

Chloe scoffed.

“The cops will believe you, dumbass. You’re a Prescott.”

Nathan scoffed himself and looked up to Chloe sadly.

“He has blackmail on me, Chloe … he can just say I was doing everything, and he had no idea crimes were involved.”

The four of them frowned.

Nathan grunted and looked down again.

“I don’t even fuckin’ know what my dad would do … but this shit looks _bad_. I don’t think he’d stick his neck out for me anymore … he’d just let me rot in fuckin’ … prison … like some goddamn … _roach_ … or something.”

Chloe made an irritated noise, but both stroking Rachel’s bracelet and Max’s warmth kept her from gesticulating it.

All eyes were on her, again.

“Something … c’mon Nathan. There’s gotta be … something.”

Nathan frowned.

“Look I --- I’ve been dealing with this for _months_ \--- there’s _nothing_ \---”

Victoria carefully placed a hand on Nathan’s shoulder and tightly squeezed it.

He just gaped his mouth stupidly but looked carefully at her.

“Nathan … please. You could do nothing … _alone_. But you’re not alone anymore. Between the four of us …?”

He looked at her helplessly for a few seconds, considering.

He then shook his head gently and looked back down to the floor, although he did appreciate Victoria’s continual touch.

“I … maybe. There’s … something … maybe …”

Chloe took a step closer.

“What?”

Nathan still didn’t look at her.

“He’s … he has a special creepy-ass bunker … outside of town … where he takes pictures ‘n shit … and where we take people.”

Victoria shuddered.

Max gasped.

Chloe just frowned.

“And?”

Her determination was divine, now, and her resolve steeled.

A fucking creepy bunker wasn’t going to scare her away.

Nathan kept looking down.

“We can’t get into it … normally. It has like … biometric locks … and shit. But …”

Nathan breathed in so harshly and looked up to Chloe, finally.

“… if I drug someone … and say I want more help … I’m pretty sure he’d open the door for me. But _only_ me and the … g-girl.”

Max gasped.

Victoria gasped.

Chloe frowned.

“You … _you’re_ … not touching another fucking woman for as long as you live, you creep.”

Nathan flinched at Chloe’s anger, but it felt deserved.

Victoria frowned and looked to Chloe.

“Lay off him, you bitch. He had no choice!”

Max considered rewinding to avoid this conversation escalating, since it was clearly doing that, but … Chloe asked her to not use her powers.

Maybe if this went really awful …

Chloe growled and broke her hand away from stroking the bracelet to point at Nathan.

“This … dickbag … tried to _rape_ me. And the shit with Kate … and now he wants to do some more? Fuck that!”

Victoria gasped again.

Nathan didn’t refute it, he just looked even more away from Chloe and sighed wearily.

Victoria looked very carefully at Nathan.

“Nate … did you …?”

She really didn’t want to know the answer, though …

Nathan whimpered and looked up to Chloe.

“You kept on pushing! And pushing! And … fuck! I just wanted you to leave me alone! He was going to fucking _kill me_ if that shit got out!”

The emotions between the two of them were raw and both parts pathetic and angry.

Nathan’s voice had this angry edge to it, but also sounded like he was five seconds away from crying, and it tugged pathetically at Victoria’s heart strings, even if the allegations were … she didn’t know how to handle this.

Chloe growled again and took a step closer ---

Max tugged at Chloe’s arm, not moving even though she did.

“Chloe …”

Chloe blinked, and looked back to Max.

“Max …”

Chloe was horrified, all of the sudden.

The anger just totally left her when she saw Max shaking pathetically, with blood coming out of her nostrils.

Oh no, Max ... please no.

This looked even worse than the other times, which was saying something.

Fucking time travel curse.

“Chloe … please … just …”

Max could barely even form words – she sounded dazed, and quiet, and she was looking down to the floor, and wobbling a bit.

She started to fall over – shit –

Chloe thankfully was still close and immediately moved to wrap her arms around Max and slowly guide her down from falling harshly.

Shit shit shit.

“Max … holy fuck, shit …”

Max had totally passed out … and the blood from her nose wasn’t stopping.

She looked so horrifyingly pained …

 

Nathan and Victoria watched it play out, suddenly quite confused.

Victoria had separated from Nathan when he didn’t refuse the accusation of rape.

What the hell just happened to Max?

Victoria was still so horribly in over her head – like absolutely everything about her life just got fucking destroyed.

But … the shock and adrenaline, for now, were helping her to stay in one piece.

And if she was being honest with herself, she was kind of worried about Max.

“What the _fuck_ … is she okay?”

Chloe didn’t even look up.

“She’s fine … I think … just give her a minute. Or ten.”

Chloe sounded much calmer, now – at least Max doing … whatever this was avoided Nathan and Chloe exploding at one another.

Victoria just groaned and put her face in her hand with her other arm crossed over.

This afternoon …

 

After a few seconds, Nathan quietly scooted a bit closer to Victoria, and placed his hand on her shoulder, but she wormed it off.

“ _Don’t_ touch me.”

Nathan bit his lip.

He really didn’t want Victoria to learn about all of this stuff … he knew how bad it looked.

But what could he do?

He had no choice.

“Victoria …”

Victoria sighed harshly and brought her hand down to cross them both.

She didn’t look at him.

“Nathan. I can’t … drugging and raping people? Taking them off to bunkers? Beating up people? The _gun_?”

She looked back to him.

“You’ve changed, Nate … and I …”

She sighed and looked away.

“I don’t recognize you anymore.”

 Nathan whimpered, and that shot through him like a fucking bullet.

He slouched a bit towards Victoria unconsciously.

“I had no choice … V …”

His voice came out so pathetic now, so close to tears.

“… he was going to kill me if I didn’t go along … he was going to kill me if Chloe told everyone … I _had_ to do … something … to get her off my back. Or I was going to d- _die._ ”

Victoria still wasn’t looking at him but had to consider his words carefully.

What would she do if she was in his shoes?

Chloe very obviously couldn’t be intimidated by most means.

Fuck … was she feeling sympathy for a fucking rapist?

Why was this so fucking hard?

She stood up, trying to shake off the guttural feeling of being the villain in this story.

“No … this is … I can’t, Nathan.”

She sighed.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t.”

At least right now … she needed some fucking time to piece everything together and figure out what she really thought.

If she could forgive Nathan for all of this, after everything she had just learned.

Nathan melted downwards, crushed under the guilt of the consequences of his actions, and just miserably hugged at himself.

Victoria agonizingly walked over to the Chloe and Max bundle and carefully sat down next to them.

She tried to put the crap with Nathan out of her mind, for now.

And she could focus on this, instead, since it was pretty fucking weird.

“Jesus … what happened to her?”

Chloe just barely looked up to Victoria, and hesitated.

“Sometimes she gets like … nosebleeds and stuff … it’s not usually this bad.”

Victoria frowned.

“We should take her to a hospital …”

Chloe shook her head.

Even if doctors could somehow handle magical time travel power agony, she didn’t want it getting out that Max had them.

Especially since using them hurt so badly, and she’d already told her to stop using them entirely.

Except when she had to, because Chloe was such an angry asshole …

Internal sigh.

“No. We’ve already done that a few times and … there’s nothing really they can do. And hospitals suck. She just needs affection, right now.”

Victoria rolled her eyes.

“Ugh, whatever. If you say so.”

Not like she could argue that she knew Max better than Chloe … especially now.

Victoria looked over to Nathan, who was still so obviously sad and miserable, and it did tug severely at her heart strings but … how far was too far?

When was being a good friend giving someone tough love?

Difficult, awful questions.

Victoria slowly looked back to Chloe.

“Hey …”

And her voice got gentle.

Chloe had been looking down to Max in the intervening moments – and her face was so worried when she was – but it softened up when she looked to Victoria.

“… what?”

Victoria briefly looked away and huffed before she looked back to Chloe.

“What do you think of Nathan?”

They were far enough away, and she spoke softly enough, that this conversation could be had in private.

Chloe frowned, and looked back down to Max.

“I don’t know. I’m … an asshole sometimes, but … what he’s done … you can’t forgive.”

Victoria sighed.

She empathized with the words.

“Even if he had no choice?”

Chloe nodded, gloomily.

“Something I’ve … learned, recently is … you _always_ have a choice. And … everyone here, has made some awful decisions …”

Victoria never remembered Chloe talking like this, so gentle and fragile.

But she was clearly worrying quite a lot about Max.

It made sense that would inspire something out of her.

“… yeah. You’re right.”

The two shared the barest of smiles, but Chloe was still looking at Max.

Victoria carefully placed her hand on Chloe’s shoulder, and the contact was … weird, and felt odd, but it was intentional.

Chloe looked at Victoria very carefully and eyed the touching hand.

“Listen … If what Nathan is saying is true … then Mr. Jefferson needs to be stopped. And … I know you, Chloe. You won’t stop until he’s dead.”

Chloe scoffed, but it was an endeared thing.

“Yeah …”

She looked back down to Max.

Victoria bit her lip and recalled her conversation with Kate.

And the very difficult things they discussed, there.

“But … hate … and jealousy … and anger … they’ll ruin you. They make you do awful … awful stuff, you regret.”

Chloe scoffed again and looked up to Victoria.

“Pot calling the kettle black, Victoria.”

Victoria rolled her eyes but shared a scoff in return.

Her hand still didn’t leave Chloe.

“I know. That’s why I’m saying this shit, dumbass. I learned. _Painfully_.”

Chloe’s expression died a little and she nodded.

“… right.”

Victoria bit her lip again.

“I … had a very long … but therapeutic conversation with Kate.”

Chloe looked down.

“That’s … that’s good. I’m glad to hear that.”

Victoria squeezed Chloe’s shoulder, and Chloe still didn’t know how to handle it.

“Just … when the time comes … I know you’ll do the right thing. But just don’t do anything you can’t live with.”

She looked over to Nathan, and then back to Chloe.

 

“The worst thing in the world is realizing you’re actually an awful person and not being able to live with yourself anymore.”

 

Chloe went deathly quiet at the words, closed her eyes, and exhaled a miserable, shaky thing.

“Yeah …”

She then breathed in deep and looked back to Victoria.

“Thanks for the talk, Vic.”

Victoria rolled her eyes and removed her hand, finally.

“ _Victoria_. My name is Victoria.”

Chloe just closed her eyes and scoffed and shook her head gently.

“ _Victoria_.”

She used the same amount of emphasis to mock her and opened her eyes again.

She hesitated for a second or two and looked over to Nathan briefly before back again.

“Hey, can you … comfort Max? I need to talk to Nathan and figure this shit out.”

Victoria blinked.

“I’m … not exactly a comforting person.”

Chloe just laughed but pushed the bundle of pained Max more towards Victoria anyway.

“It’s never too late to change, _Victoria._ ”

Victoria sort of awkwardly accepted Max into her arms.

She smelled nice.

Shame she looked so pained, though.

Chloe stood up and sighed.

“Just … be respectful. She’s my girlfriend, y’know.”

Victoria scoffed, offended, and looked up to Chloe to stare daggers at her.

“Oh _shut up_. I am _not_ crushing on Max.”

Chloe just grinned obnoxiously, and Victoria continued to resent how easily Chloe saw right through her.

Chloe tiled her head to the side and smirked wider for a few seconds, then crossed her arms and turned to go deal with Nathan.

Victoria watched her go for a few moments before looking down at Max.

She _was_ pretty cute.

Damn it.

At least Victoria could feel useful now, and it gave her the quiet time to think she wanted.

 

Chloe walked up to the still-defeated Nathan and uncrossed her arms to shove her hands in her pockets.

She had a lot to think about, and a lot to say, but … priorities.

She couldn’t let her anger get the best of her, right now.

She had to deal with Mr. Jefferson, and the only way she could potentially do that without rotting in jail for the rest of her life was through Nathan.

“Nathan.”

 

Nathan looked up to her, and his eyes were red and raw and irritated, since he’d been crying in the intervening moments.

“What?”

And his voice was so pathetic.

Chloe frowned.

“Are you _sure_ that’s the only way we could get both me and him in that bunker?”

Chloe had been thinking about this while trying to comfort Max.

If Nathan was right, this bunker sounded secluded and off the beaten path.

Plus, if the only person who could get in was Mr. Jefferson …

If he was killed inside, maybe no one would ever find him.

Nathan sighed wearily and looked down.

“Yeah. I’m sure. He’s got … fuckin’ plans for every goddamn thing under the sun … but he won’t expect me to betray him like that.”

He looked up.

“He won’t expect a woman to be able to fuckin’ fight back.”

Chloe scoffed and closed her eyes.

“No one ever does.”

She opened her eyes.

“Then take me.”

He blinked, then frowned.

“Are you sure? This is … Mr. Jefferson is a totally different fuckin’ person in that bunker. He’s a complete psycho. And I mean like … actual, literal, no empathy psycho. He’s taller and stronger and ---”

Chloe pulled out her gun, and Nathan’s eyes went wide.

She kept it pointed at the ground, at least.

“Gun equalizes everything. We’ll hide one somewhere and there won’t be anything he can do.”

Nathan looked at the gun and went quiet in consideration.

“I … I-I …”

He looked down and whimpered.

“I don’t know. He’s so scary and fuckin’ … convincing, Chloe …”

Chloe frowned.

“I don’t care. He has to be stopped.”

She hesitated.

“Rachel deserves better, Nathan.”

He whimpered again, and brought both of his hands up to harshly rub at his eyes for a few seconds.

Then, he breathed in deeply, let out a long and slow exhale, and looked up carefully at Chloe.

 

“… okay. Tomorrow morning.”

Chloe frowned.

“What? Let’s deal with this shit _now_.”

Nathan shook his head.

“He’s not going to be in the fuckin’ bunker right now. I need to tell him I’m planning on doing a shoot and I want his help.”

Chloe considered things for a few moments.

“This is … _ugh_.”

She looked away, put the gun back into her waistline, and crossed her arms.

She looked back to Nathan.

“Nathan … you know that storm you keep dreaming about?”

He frowned, too.

“Yeah …?”

Chloe sighed and closed her eyes.

“It’s coming Friday. Like noonish, if our dreams are right.”

Nathan blinked.

“How do you fuckin’ know?”

Chloe opened her eyes and rolled them.

“Max and I have the dream, too. But we see different stuff in ours.”

She hesitated.

“Speaking of. What do you see in yours?”

Nathan looked down to the floor.

“… it’s really shitty.”

Chloe scoffed.

“Yeah? Car crash almost kills me in mine. How bad can yours be?”

Nathan sighed wearily, and hesitated, but did look back up to Chloe.

“… I’m on the floor, outside the bunker, and I can barely move … the storm is _right_ there … pouring down on me … overwhelming me … I can’t even get up … and the rain keeps on pouring, and pouring, and pouring … the waterline … I can’t breathe …”

Chloe blinked.

Damn.

What a shitty way to go …

“Brutal.”

But Chloe kind of thought Nathan deserved to die like that, anyway.

Still, she was mostly hoping the dreams were like, warnings, and not predictive of anything.

Hopefully the storm wouldn’t even come … especially if they had to do this crap on Friday.

She sighed wearily.

“Well … fuck. Friday is going to be one hell of a day.”

As if every day this week hadn’t been one hell of a day.

Nathan laughed sort of sadly, and it felt weird for him to laugh after all of this.

He looked down.

“Yeah …”

Chloe sighed, and looked back to Victoria and Max.

She smirked a little.

Victoria was gently stroking Max’s forehead.

Not a comforting person, sure.

She looked back to Nathan.

“Alright. Friday morning. No later.”

Nathan looked up.

“Friday morning. No later.”

Chloe hesitated for a few seconds, but then turned around and started walking back to Victoria and Max.

About halfway to them, though ---

“Chloe, wait …”

Chloe looked back, but didn’t turn her body around.

“Yeah?”

Nathan was frowning.

But then he bit his lip and softened his expression.

“Thanks. For … everything. I know I don’t deserve this.”

Chloe closed her eyes and paused for a second or two.

When she opened them,

 

“No. You don’t.”

 

But that’s all he got.

No anger.

Chloe said it evenly, and calmly, not even coldly.

Just matter-of-fact.

She then looked back to Victoria and Max, completed walking to them.

With Victoria, she helped Max up, and they started walking to the clubhouse together.

Nathan watched them go and looked down.

 

He pulled out his gun and looked at it carefully.

Contemplating.

If the storm vision was predictive … that’s not how he wanted to fucking die at all.

Maybe he deserved to forever suffer for what he did to Rachel, but …

At least he was given something he could do.

Before he went.

Some purpose in his life.

He put the gun away, got back into his car, and drove off.

He had to figure out how exactly to convince Mr. Jefferson to get into the bunker, but, Chloe was right.

Rachel deserved better.

This was the one thing he wasn’t fucking allowed to fuck up.

 

Inside the club house, Chloe and Victoria carefully laid Max down on the couch and looked at her for a few moments.

“Is it always this bad?”

Victoria still sounded concerned.

Chloe sighed, and looked over to her.

“… no. This is pretty extreme.”

Victoria bit her lip.

“I hope she’s okay …”

Chloe smiled, and looked back down to Max.

“She’s a trooper … she’ll get through it.”

Victoria sighed herself.

Chloe wasn’t completely sure she believed this – it seemed Max’s powers were taking more and more and more out of her.

Would they eventually kill her?

Was she even going to wake up from this episode?

Bad thoughts, bail.

 

Chloe looked over to Victoria.

At least she had something --- someone --- she could use to distract herself until Max recovered.

She smirked.

 

“Not a comforting person, huh?”

 

Victoria scoffed and looked sidelong at Chloe.

“Oh shut up. _Anyone_ would comfort her. Just look at her.”

Chloe kept on smirking.

“You were daintily draping your hand over her forehead and cooing so gently to her like a fucking bird ---”

Victoria groaned and shoved Chloe’s shoulder.

“--- _stuff it_ , Price. You hallucinated.”

Chloe totally deserved that shoulder rub, but still pulled out her phone.

“In fact, I think I have to tell _Taylor_ about this …”

Victoria blinked.

One, two, three seconds –

She reached _right_ for Chloe’s phone –

But Chloe was taller and –

The phone went waaaaaay over Chloe’s head out of Victoria’s reach –

“Chloe! I am going to _actually_ murder you if you tell her about this!”

 

If someone had told the Chloe from the start of the week that she’d be dating a time-controlling Max, Victoria would be her friend, and she was going to work with Nathan to bring down Mr. Jefferson to get revenge for Rachel, Chloe would have laughed that someone’s goddamn ear off.

Maybe even have them committed.

But now, Chloe couldn’t see how this week could have turned out any differently.

She just tried to put the worry of how tomorrow was going to go down out of her mind.

And focus on being a little shit to Victoria.

Since annoying her was kind of fun.

She liked it, anyway.

Probably.


	13. Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rachel dreams.
> 
> Chloe dreams.
> 
> Max dreams.
> 
> Max blushes.
> 
> Victoria blushes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some Amberprice scenes here, so if you're a Pricefield purist, just skip a bit. This chapter is mostly here for pacing reasons and not plot or structural ones, so you won't miss much by doing so.

Chloe was goddamn drenched from the rain.

When she opened her eyes with a gasp, she tried to take in her surroundings.

She was –

By the lighthouse –

Down the path a bit –

Chloe tightly hugged at herself for some semblance of warmth and protection as her mind further processed stuff.

Unconsciously she started walking towards the lighthouse, and up the path leading to it, through some trees.

It was dark out, and the sky was a disgusting dark tar color, impenetrably dark and sickening.

There was no storm – why?

Chloe recognized this as a storm dream – since she’d been having a fucking lot of them – but this one was different.

There was no storm.

Only the rain, for now.

Was this predictive of another part of the storm?

Early on?

Why on earth would she go to the lighthouse?

Looking towards the lighthouse, Chloe noticed something else.

There was a crack in the darkness of the sky – just one ray of sunshine allowed throughout all of this.

She had nothing better to do than go there, since it was on the way to the lighthouse, anyway.

But why was that there?

Why this one bright spot in this horrid darkness?

 

Chloe got her answer, soon enough.

 

When she got through the trees to the clearing near the top of the cliff by the lighthouse, she gasped.

The ray of light, the break in the darkness, was landing right on the bench looking out to the sea.

Chloe had so many memories with this bench ...

And one of her best memories was sitting on it.

Rachel.

Chloe unthinkingly broke into a sprint to get right by the bench and –

 

Rachel got up.

 

Chloe stopped.

Rachel turned around to face Chloe and –

Everything was different, all of the sudden.

Chloe didn’t even notice a transition – it was instant.

The rain stopped.

The sky was clear.

The sun was bright.

Chloe was dry, warm, and safe.

She looked down to herself and saw the clothes she wore from years ago on her now.

Her hands, her arms – less scarred, less rough, less experienced and less damaged.

What the hell …

This was different.

Chloe had dreamt of her past with Rachel, of course, but those were never knowingly dreams.

Chloe was completely aware this was a dream, and the unreality of the situation only reinforced that.

Rachel got up in front of Chloe and gently cupped her cheek.

 

Chloe was so warm.

 

She looked up to Rachel with a shuddering exhale, uneasily looking at her.

Not out of discomfort, or distrust, or anything malicious – just – this –

Chloe knew how this was going to end.

She was going to wake up cold and alone – she would be reminded of things – she would –

 

Rachel didn’t say any words.

She just saw Chloe starting to shake, and saw the turmoil in her body, and the agony about her, and she knew how to cure it.

She smiled, closed her eyes, moved closer, and kissed Chloe.

Chloe whimpered, but wasn’t about to refuse Rachel’s affections.

She closed her eyes, too, and relived the thousands of kisses she had had with Rachel.

 

When Chloe opened her eyes again, everything was different, instantly, again.

She was in her room.

Old young clothes, old young body.

Rachel was laying down on Chloe’s bed, gently smoking some weed and looking at the ceiling.

The old, young Rachel.

The words came to Chloe without her thinking about it – the memory was automatic and executing it unconscious.

“So … that conversation with Sera …”

Rachel frowned, and huffed, and took a long hit of her joint before placing it down on a nearby ashtray.

She brought her knees up a bit and hugged at herself.

“It’s such … _bullshit_ … after everything … _everything_ … she wants me to just …”

Rachel made a frustrated groan and shook her head.

Not even the weed could calm her from this.

Chloe sighed gently, but then smiled.

The weed couldn’t calm Rachel, but something else could.

Chloe carefully walked over and plopped down on the bed next to Rachel, then lazily draped down into a laying position adjacent her.

The intimacy came completely automatically – Chloe turned onto her side and ran an arm across Rachel’s front.

Rachel looked at her for one second, two, then her expression cracked and started to warm.

“Chloe …”

Chloe smiled a bit wider.

“Maybe staying here will suck, but … at least we have each other.”

Rachel exhaled, amused, and turned onto her side to press herself meaningfully into Chloe’s body.

She nestled her face into some part of Chloe’s chest or collarbones and exhaled so gently against her.

Chloe’s arm moved with her to hold her to her front.

Rachel hesitated.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Chloe … with my parents …”

Chloe sighed just slightly, and placed a kiss into Rachel’s hair, sniffing it once or twice to take in the aroma.

“… maybe not alone. I know a thing or two about dealing with shit parents.”

Rachel exhaled, amused again, and melted more and more into Chloe’s body and grasp.

Chloe suddenly smirked.

“Young in the ways of the force you are. Teach you I can. Jedi become.”

She tried to do the Yoda voice as best she could, which as turns out, was pretty damn good.

Rachel out-right laughed at this and brought her face up to look at Chloe – really look at her.

Her eyes were beaming.

Her smile so bright.

Her eyes so warm.

“You are such a dork …”

Chloe scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“So are you!”

They both giggled, suddenly not caring about the shit situation they were still in.

 

There was a banging on the door, suddenly, and they both groaned.

“Is that grass? The devil’s lettuce?! What'd I tell you ---”

Chloe removed herself from holding Rachel and got up from the bed with a frown.

She moved towards the door, but –

Rachel suddenly got up behind her and placed her hand on Chloe’s shoulder, drawing it all of the way down to her hand to interlock their fingers.

She tugged Chloe back.

Chloe blinked but looked back to Rachel, who was smirking, and holding the joint with the other hand.

“Fuck him.”

She nodded towards Chloe’s window.

Chloe looked at it, and Rachel’s eyes followed her.

Then Chloe looked back at Rachel, and Rachel looked to her.

One second, two, then they smirked.

Rachel tugged Chloe again, and Chloe got right up in front of her –

Rachel got up on her tippy toes.

They kissed.

Firmly, excitedly, passionately.

 

Fuck him.

Why even have the argument, why even have the fight, why even have the stress.

They could just run away.

And run away they did, out Chloe’s window.

No argument.

No stress.

Just weed and each other.

It was the one thing that was going to keep them in one piece with the long road ahead of them.

 

When Chloe opened her eyes next, she was in Frank’s RV.

On his couch.

Rachel was buried into her side, doing some school work with a slight pouted frown.

Chloe appreciated her for a few seconds but the closeness was so habitual that it felt weird to be apart for that long and normal to be close, so she didn’t give it that much mind.

Frank opened the door leading to his room and walked out.

Chloe blinked and looked up to him.

Once again, the memory was so well-trodden in her mind, the execution came out without trying.

“Hey-hey-hey, Frank …”

Frank grunted but kept on walking, probably to leave the RV.

Chloe frowned.

“Wait wait. I gotta ---”

Frank and Rachel both blinked.

Chloe carefully pushed Rachel a bit away so that she was supporting her own weight and got up to chase after Frank.

Frank rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and looked back to Chloe.

He then turned around to face her.

“… yeah?”

Chloe bounced on her shoes for a second or two then nervously looked down before up again.

She hesitated, and her eyes looked away without her face doing as such, then finally looked back to Frank with a grin.

“Where’d you get your tats?”

Frank scoffed, closed his eyes, and shook his head slightly.

“Don’t matter. You’re not even old enough to get them, kid.”

He was smiling just slightly when he opened his eyes again, though.

Chloe whined and tilted her head to the side slightly and tried to give him her best puppy dog eyes.

“C’mooooooon. Who cares about that crap. I wanna get like … a _skull_ … on my arm.”

Rachel made an approving noise from the couch.

“Sounds hot.”

Chloe looked back to her for a second or two with a genuine smirk and very slight blush before looking to Frank again.

Frank scoffed, amused, but his smile was getting wider.

“Yeah? I think you’re trying too hard, Chloe.”

Chloe frowned and pouted, crossing her arms.

“It’s not …”

She closed her eyes and sighed harshly.

When she opened them again,

“It’s … meant to represent my dad. It’s not any bullshit with … trying to look tough or something.”

The three of them went quiet, blinking.

Frank hesitated, then looked around and rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly.

It took him far too many seconds before he looked back at Chloe and sighed.

“… Alright. I’ll see what my friend can do … she’s got a real eye for this stuff.”

Chloe smiled broadly and cutely and uncrossed her arms.

“Thanks, Frank.”

Frank just grunted and turned to leave the RV.

Rachel was suddenly behind Chloe, wrapping her arms around to hug at her waist and belly.

Chloe blinked and sort of awkwardly lowered her arms as well to hug at Rachel’s arms.

“Hey … about your dad.”

Chloe closed her eyes and sighed.

“I kinda … don’t really want to talk about it.”

Rachel scoffed.

“Bullshit. You totally do.”

Chloe couldn’t help a smirk and shook her head slightly.

“Okay, okay … I totally do … it just sucks to think about.”

Rachel unwrapped herself so she could come around to Chloe’s front and find both of her hands to intertwine all of their fingers and be close again.

 

Chloe was so warm.

Rachel smiled so gently up at Chloe.

“Mmmm … Yeah. But it sucks keeping it just all bottled up, doesn’t it?”

Chloe blinked, but of course was more than happy to have Rachel suddenly in front of her and providing affection.

“I mean … yeah … but how do you know?”

Rachel smirked, and broke her hands away from Chloe’s own to trail them up her arms to her shoulders and place them there.

Then she got up on her tippy toes and kissed Chloe.

Gently.

Slowly.

Lovingly.

Chloe still didn’t know what to do with her damn hands.

When they separated, Rachel’s expression was different.

Not her habitual smile, or her sunny grin, or playful smirk –

She looked concerned and sighed into Chloe’s neck, looking down at it as well.

“Is it not obvious? There’s so much I want to tell you, Chloe …”

Chloe hesitated, but then smiled herself, and brought one of her hands up to cup Rachel’s chin and bring her into looking at Chloe again.

“You can tell me anything, Rachel. _Anything_.”

Rachel smirked, and kissed the hand that had guided her head, before suddenly breathing in deeply and pushing off Chloe.

“And I will. In good time. Everything.”

She turned to look behind her, near the front of Frank’s RV.

When she looked back,

“In the mean time though … how about we steal Frank’s gun and cause some trouble in the junkyard?”

Chloe smirked.

Something she always admired about Rachel is how no matter how serious a moment was, she could always crack a joke or come up with some impulsive thing that made them both feel better about shit.

They _did_ steal Frank’s gun and shoot some crap.

Rachel had her school work to do but being able to just spend an hour doing goofy, impulsive, childish stuff with Chloe was a wonderful de-stresser.

She didn’t think once about how much she hated her family or school, now.

She just thought about Chloe.

 

When Chloe opened her eyes again, she was in a particular location.

The VIP section of a Vortex Club party.

This body felt a bit older, and she knew this was closer to who she was today.

A some more bumps and bruises.

Fresh, blue hair.

There were some Vortex groupies who gave Chloe a look – since she tended to attract looks these days – but Chloe wore their stares proudly.

She didn’t fit in with these bitchy assholes and she loved that she didn’t.

Besides, she wasn’t here for them, anyway.

Chloe smirked as she prowled past them and sat down with a bit too much force on one of the couches they had in here.

The one, of course, that had a Rachel on it, slowly working on a beer.

Chloe found a beer on the table in front of them and thoughtlessly opened it to start working on one herself.

After she took her first drink and exhaled briskly, she forcefully leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes.

Rachel made a content humming noise and leaned over so she was on Chloe's shoulder and side, a natural place for her to rest herself.

“Hey.”

They had to talk a bit louder than usual since these damn parties just had this constant loud bass music playing.

At least it was _somewhat_ quieter in the VIP section.

Chloe could fucking hear herself think, at least.

She opened her eyes and looked down to Rachel as much as she could, in their position.

“Hey.”

Rachel used her free hand to pat at Chloe’s belly.

“This week is going to kill me …”

Chloe frowned, but sighed wearily.

This week _had_ been pretty awful.

But at least this conversation could be had with privacy, since everyone else was engaged in conversation some ways away.

“I can’t believe your dad lost his job …”

Rachel scoffed.

“ _Fucker_ deserved it …”

There was this … anger in Rachel’s voice – this unbidden fire – and it always seemed to come up when she talked about her dad.

Rachel harshly took another sip of her beer and exhaled wearily.

“… but I don’t know how we’re going to afford anything now.”

Chloe sighed wearily, herself.

“We’ll make it work … somehow.”

She didn’t know how much she believed in this.

They simply needed money to live in LA, there was no two ways about it.

Rachel had been putting some money away from her allowance, but some of their adventures dipped into that savings fund, and Chloe doubted it had the cash they needed to live more than a month.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Nathan and Victoria entering the room.

Rachel remained melted into Chloe’s side as they approached.

Chloe just frowned as they got closer, though.

Nathan was kind of alright, but Victoria was a whole different ball game.

A bitchy one.

She was fucking smirking smugly too, which meant she was going to be really obnoxious when she was close enough to talk.

“Oh no. The perfect little princess have some family issues to deal with?”

Victoria’s goddamn voice, ugh.

Rachel stiffened immediately.

“Not _now_ , Victoria.”

Victoria scoffed, amused, and dramatically crossed her arms and raised one of her hands up to the side of her head, excitedly rubbing her thumb against some of her fingers there.

“Oh, you’re in _my_ \---”

Chloe tossed her beer bottle off to the side of Victoria and it smashed on the far wall behind her.

That shut Victoria up in a goddamn hurry.

“She said. Not. Now.”

For the briefest of moments, Chloe registered fear on Victoria’s face – Chloe was kind of intimidating these days.

But Victoria soon hid all emotion, turned her face to a quiet scowl, and just looked over to Nathan.

Nathan had been enjoying this and was grinning stupidly, but it took him a second or two to realize that Victoria seriously was done talking.

He blinked, and cleared his throat, and his expression became more neutral.

“I have what you wanted.”

He spoke to Rachel, who finally unburied herself from Chloe’s side to sit up straight, then lean forward a bit and look up to Nathan.

“Show me.”

Nathan looked around briefly, then got closer to the couch, and pulled out a small plastic bag with some tablets from his jacket, showing it to Rachel.

Chloe blinked.

Those were clearly drugs.

Rachel wasn’t –

“Good. Thanks, Nate …”

Rachel quietly produced a stack of bills and they exchanged the goods quickly and efficiently.

They also exchanged a warm smile.

The only time Chloe ever saw Nathan smile is when he was around Rachel.

Then again, Chloe only ever saw him around Rachel herself.

Whatever.

After a second or two, Nathan took a few steps back, and reunited with Victoria.

They left, though Victoria never stopped staring daggers at Chloe.

When they were gone, Rachel buried herself once more into Chloe’s side and took one of the tablets out.

Chloe frowned slightly and looked down at her.

“Was that from our travel funds …?”

Rachel shook her head and took the tablet with a chase of some beer.

She did hesitate slightly on the answer, though.

“No. You know I would never do that, Chloe.”

It felt like a lie.

But what could Chloe do?

“Oh. What’d you buy?”

Rachel sighed gently.

“Molly. I need to feel … good … after this week.”

Chloe bit her lip.

Rachel pulled herself away just enough to look up at Chloe.

She smirked.

“You want one too?”

Chloe bit her lip and hesitated on a response.

“I … think I’m good.”

Rachel blinked, but did just smile so gently.

She brought both of her hands up to cup Chloe’s face and tug her down for a kiss.

Jittery.

Nervous.

But firm, and unyielding.

When she pulled away, Rachel just put the bag of tablets plainly on her lap and melted back into Chloe’s side.

She put her beer down on the table and started affectionately rubbing the arm closest to her, and Chloe loved it when Rachel got all touchy-feely like that.

Chloe even took off her jacket, so she could feel the touch right to her skin.

“I’m going to feel so amazing in a little bit … nothing will matter … but _us_ , Chloe.”

Chloe didn’t know how to feel about Rachel doing drugs.

But could she blame her?

After this week …

Even Chloe was considering a more serious escape, fuck.

She hesitated.

“… do you think you feel even better if I have one?”

Rachel practically purred and moved the hand so that it was under Chloe’s tank top, stroking at her belly.

“Only one way to find out …”

Rachel picked out another tablet from her bag and offered it up to Chloe.

Chloe hesitated, but she did take and consume the tablet, and chased it with Rachel’s beer.

Fuck.

Rachel smirked, hid the bag in Chloe’s jacket off to the side, and then straddled her.

Chloe just dumbly looked up at Rachel, gaping her mouth, completely unsure of what was about to happen.

But then Rachel kissed her, and started to make out with her, and her hands were all over Chloe’s body –

 

Despite the awful week, it was probably one of the best nights of Chloe’s life.

She never felt so alive.

Maybe it was worth delaying their move to LA if it meant they had more nights like this.

 

When Chloe opened her eyes again, everything changed at once, of course.

This body felt closest to who she was today, faults and all.

Even her clothes were similar, now, and her first sleeve of tattoos complete.

They were in Rachel’s dorm.

Chloe was on Rachel’s bed, just being obnoxiously doe-eyed while Rachel did school work.

Their relationship had a lot of drama and excitement, but it also had a lot of quiet, where all they did was simply appreciate each other’s warmth and company.

Something was different about this day, though.

Rachel sighed and put down her book to look over at Chloe.

Chloe’s expression cracked, slightly, since that wasn’t normal.

“So … when we move to LA … what are you going to do?”

Chloe shrugged and smirked.

“Be your hot trophy wife?”

Rachel laughed, and shook her head slightly.

She turned her chair to face Chloe and crossed her arms.

“More seriously, though …”

Chloe bit her lip and hesitated.

“I dunno. Doesn’t really matter if I’m with you.”

Rachel hesitated, too.

“I just … I want you to have a fulfilling life, Chloe. To have … I don’t know, purpose?”

This tone was unusual, coming from Rachel.

Soft, uncertain, hesitating.

It seemed like she’d been thinking about this for a while.

Chloe sighed and got up to rest off the edge of the bed and gently sway her boots back and forth, occasionally clicking her heels together.

She took a few seconds to consider and leaned forward with her hands grasping at the edge of the bed.

“My life _is_ fulfilling. Around you.”

For some reason, this didn’t seem to be what Rachel wanted to hear, and she looked down with a gentle but long exhale.

Chloe bit her lip and got up from the bed.

She walked over to Rachel and quietly placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I mean … I thought it’d be nice if I could be there for you every day you come home … help you relax with a beer and … some nice cuddling and … some hot monkey sex …”

Rachel, despite her mood, laughed, and looked up to Chloe with that warm smile.

Chloe smiled, too.

Rachel looked over and kissed the hand that had been on her shoulder before looking back to Chloe.

“That does sound nice … I just don’t want you to … I don’t know, this was stupid, let’s just ---”

Chloe scoffed, and sat down a bit too forcefully on Rachel’s lap.

Rachel blinked but kept looking at her.

“--- Rachel, you can tell me anything. _Really_. If this is really bothering you … I don’t know, I can look into being like … a mechanic, or something.”

The words landed in a way Chloe didn’t quite expect, with Rachel smiling in a way that read as regretful or sad, but it was momentary and fleeting, and soon her smile looked genuine and warm again.

Maybe she was just contemplating Chloe’s suggestion.

“Okay. I think I’d like that a lot …”

Chloe leaned down and kissed Rachel.

Confidently.

Gently.

Slowly.

When she pulled away, they were both smiling so wide.

“Then I’ll get started on that. … Tomorrow.”

Rachel started to smirk.

“Tomorrow, huh …”

Chloe closed her eyes and nodded dumbly.

She brought her arms up to sort of hug Rachel’s neck, more of just melting into her front more and providing what affection she could.

“… yeah … or maybe next week. My calendar is kind of booked.”

Rachel smirked wider, but gently kissed at some part of Chloe’s face.

“Oh really … next week.”

Chloe nodded again.

“Maybeeeeeee … next month, actually. Y’know. Shit’s crazy.”

Rachel just laughed, and it felt so good to make her laugh.

Chloe wasn’t sure how seriously she was going to be a mechanic.

But it did give her something to think about.

She would absolutely be the best goddamn housewife in the world for Rachel, to make her stressful life easier.

But maybe she could be something else, too.

Weird thoughts coming from the idiot drop out stoner punk.

 

When she opened her eyes again, she was back at the lighthouse, only this time, her body was as she was today, and Rachel, as she last remembered her.

They broke away from their three-years-long kiss, and Rachel just smiled warmly.

She got down from her tippy toes, looked down, closed her eyes, and started to turn transparent.

Chloe blinked, and tried to hug her close again, but this time, Chloe’s touch simply went right though her.

“Rachel …”

When Rachel looked up again, she was trembling, and there were tears in her eyes, and she was biting her lip so hard.

Rachel reached up, although her touch could no longer give Chloe the warmth she loved, and cupped Chloe’s cheek, even though neither could feel it, anymore.

But she was smiling as the last of her opacity disappeared and she left Chloe entirely, all alone.

Chloe was speechless at this, but just watched Rachel disappear.

When she was totally gone, Chloe closed her eyes tightly and whimpered and felt like she was going to cry, but –

Then she just breathed in deep, opened her eyes again, and looked to the bench.

She sat down on it with a bit too much force, leaned forward, placed her hands loosely on her lap, and just considered things.

She didn’t cry.

She missed Rachel, but she didn’t cry.

She loved Rachel, but she didn’t cry.

 

Rachel was gone.

 

And Chloe was okay with that.

She wasn’t ever going to forget the good parts of their life together.

Chloe without Rachel simply wasn’t Chloe, and maybe it was bullshit that she had to go through losing her, but …

She didn’t want to ever forget what she had had with her.

Even some of the bad stuff.

She didn’t want to be without these experiences, these lessons.

Even as the sky started to turn icky and sick again, and all except the bench started to be rained upon severely, Chloe just kept looking out to the sea.

 

Rachel was gone.

And Chloe was okay with that.

 

As the thought completed, she heard someone rush towards the bench, through the awful storm all around them.

Chloe got up, turned around ---

Max.

“Chloe …!”

Max looked so sad.

So hurt.

So uncomfortably wet and miserable.

But Chloe just smiled.

As she turned around, she made a wide, dramatic gesture, spreading both of her arms wide and dismissing the rain as though she were a god.

This was her dream, goddamn it.

Max was going to be happy in it.

She deserved that.

And so Max’s clothes were dried, and so Chloe got up to her, and so Chloe placed her hands delicately on Max’s shoulders, and so she leaned down.

 

And so, she kissed Max.

They both closed their eyes.

 

At once, she relieved her experiences with Max in their childhood.

 

When Max opened her eyes, everything was suddenly different.

She sort of just accepted it from the unreality of this storm dream, though it was odd how quickly things changed.

This very definitely wasn’t like the other dreams of storms …

Her body was young, very young –

But she was scared.

She was small and fragile, and someone was tightly gripping at her shirt.

“What! Are you just gunna look down, now, _huh_ , pipsqueak?”

Max sniffled, but she just couldn’t will her body into doing anything else.

The pressure from the bully was just too great.

“I … I … I … ---”

 

“--- Hey! Leave her alone you dummy!”

 

Max looked up, to the source of the voice.

A young, quite pretty girl, with gorgeously long hair.

But more importantly, she was frowning fiercely, and she was kind of intimidating.

Her hands were in tight fists.

The bully scoffed and shoved Max away, who just quietly backed up and put some more distance between them.

“Oh yeah? Or you’ll do what, _huh_ , girlie?”

The bully’s vocabulary wasn’t especially impressive to Max, but she just couldn’t look away from the new girl at all.

The new girl smirked and brought her fists up so she could pound one against the other hand’s palm.

“Or I’ll beat you within an inch of your life! _Grrr_!”

The bully scoffed but looked over to Max briefly.

“Whatever.”

He just made his way past the new girl.

Did she seriously just intimidate him?

Max was in awe as the girl watched him go.

When he was safely out of ear shot, she looked back to Max with a smile and walked up to her front.

“Are you okay? I hate dumbos like that.”

Max had even trouble putting words together when she was close.

She smelled nice, too.

“I …”

Max looked down again and quietly cursed at herself.

Why was she so pathetic like this?

This girl was being so nice but Max just couldn’t ---

Suddenly, a hand was on Max’s shoulder, and she damn near jumped out of her skin, but instead just looked up to the new girl.

“It’s alright. You don’t need to say anything. I’m Chloe Price. Holler at me if he tries that buttcrud again, okay?”

Max smiled.

“Y-yeah … okay.”

Chloe smiled, too.

“Awwweeesome!”

She looked away, then back at Max.

“Well. I gotta get going … bell’s gonna’ ring any second now. Don’t be late!”

With that, Chloe just smirked, tilted her head to the side slightly, and then turned around and quickly jogged back into campus.

Max just watched her go, staring at her pretty hair.

Wow.

What a morning.

Max closed her eyes and looked down to her books.

 

When she opened her eyes again, everything was different.

She was in Chloe’s living room, sitting on their couch, and it was late at night.

They had some freshly-popped popcorn and Chloe was setting up the TV for a movie.

When she was done, she turned around with a bit too much and raised her hands on either side of her body dramatically, grinning, then lowered them.

“All set. This movie is going to make you f-r-e-a-k freak out!”

Max scoffed but was smiling.

“Nu-uh. You’re a bigger baby than I am. _You’re_ going to freak.”

Chloe scoffed herself but excitedly ran over to the couch to _slam_ down into a seating position right next to Max.

She eagerly leaned forward and placed her hands on the edge of the couch.

Max always liked how Chloe just had too much energy.

It felt like it balanced out Max’s lethargy nicely.

“Nu-uuuuuuh. You will. Bet’cha 100 bucks!”

Max ate some popcorn while the movie started.

“You don’t have 100 bucks, Chloe.”

Chloe huffed, but got up close, adjacent to Max, to start eating some popcorn herself.

“Oh. Well … um … how aboooooooouut … loser has to brush the other’s hair for a week?”

Max hummed thoughtfully.

Sort of a silly thing to make a bet about, with a very silly stake, but if Max had to use just one word to describe Chloe, it’d be ‘silly’.

“I guess. My hair is always in a pony tail, though …”

Chloe just scoffed.

“That doesn’t matter. Since _I’m_ not going to lose.”

Max rolled her eyes.

 

Chloe _did_ lose, and she was very emphatic and dramatic about making good on the bet.

Max didn’t quite understand why.

 

When she opened her eyes again, they were in Chloe’s room.

Max was sitting on her bed, and Chloe was brushing her own hair.

“You brought your brush, right?”

Max sighed.

“Yeah …”

She _still_ didn’t understand why this was such a big deal to Chloe.

Chloe smirked and tossed her hairbrush to somewhere else in the room carelessly, and plopped down on the bed next to Max.

“Give me the goods, then.”

Max looked squarely at Chloe and offered her the brush.

“Tank-yu.”

Chloe quickly took it and scooted up onto her knees, then back behind Max.

Max just sighed and looked forward.

Chloe got rid of the hair tie keeping Max’s hair up in a pony and started to brush her hair but was uncharacteristically quiet throughout the whole ordeal.

Max expected a lot of teasing about her hair being unruly or awful or whatever, but that’s not what she got.

Chloe just dutifully and silently did it.

Max eventually closed her eyes and just relaxed at the attention.

It felt nice.

Maybe this is why Chloe wanted to do this so much?

She stopped caring about that, for now, and just focused on the feeling of Chloe brushing her hair.

Eventually, Chloe was satisfied, and scooted back around to Max’s side.

Still quiet, she sat herself down, and looked down at the hairbrush in her hands.

Max blinked as she looked over to Chloe.

She was so, so, quiet, and collected, and calm, and reserved.

Max had never seen Chloe like this.

“Your hair … is … pretty, by the way.”

Max kept on blinking.

She felt like objecting, but Chloe suddenly looked up, and breathed in nervously, and looked away for a second, and then looked right back.

She smirked and moved one of her hands to Max’s hair to tuck some of the strands behind her ear.

“You should wear it down more often …”

Max just kept on blinking.

“You think it’s pretty enough for that …? I think it looks so dumb and girly and ---”

Chloe giggled.

“Yes, dummy. It’s pretty enough for that. In fact …”

She took Max’s hair tie and put her own hand through it, so that it functioned more like a bracelet.

“I’m stealing this. You’re not allowed to wear it anymore!”

Max huffed indignantly, but was smiling.

She didn’t see Chloe get so quiet like that very often.

So she remembered every time it happened carefully.

At least in her insanity, the far reaches of her childhood were safe from corruption.

 

When Max opened her eyes again, she was looking at some textbook.

Boring homework.

But she was at Chloe’s house, sitting at their kitchen table.

About to get some delicious pancakes.

She put her book down as William sat down at the table.

Joyce was still in the kitchen, doing the finishing touches on them.

William looked at Max and Chloe, and then carefully leaned over to Chloe.

“You know … when two friends like each other a lot, lot, _lot_ … they can kiss.”

Chloe scoffed.

“Gross! Kissing gives you cooties.”

Max blinked, and looked over to Chloe.

William just smiled so wide.

“Only boys have cooties, sweetheart.”

Chloe blinked, but didn’t have a response to that.

She just went quiet in consideration.

Max frowned, slightly.

“My mom says boys don’t have cooties either. And that’s just for dumb babies!”

William chuckled warmly, and sat up straight to look over at Max.

“Your mom is a very wise person.”

The conversation was ended as Joyce came in with pancakes.

 

When Max opened her eyes again –

She was in Chloe’s bed –

This body felt close to her current age –

Only –

She was half naked –

And Chloe’s hands were all over her –

Max forcefully kissed Chloe, and the two just sort of stopped for a few seconds, staring at each other and their respective blushes.

They were breathing hard, of course.

Max didn’t know she could even breathe this hard – and it hadn’t gotten any better since they made out in the pool, earlier.

Chloe placed both of her hands on Max’s sides and rubbed meaningfully.

“Max … this is …”

Max smiled.

“Chloe … as far as … you want to go …”

She wasn’t totally certain about that – she was still a virgin.

But after tonight …

There’s no one else Max wanted to lose it to.

And no better mood than tonight.

Chloe bit her lip.

“But … it’s your first … time … it should be … magical …”

Max kissed at Chloe’s lips again, and it felt so right to be able to do this whenever, now.

After the kiss ended, she moved her hands down to Chloe’s, and rubbed at them herself.

“And it will be … won’t it …?”

Chloe smirked, a little, but then she looked down and got deathly quiet.

Calm.

Composed.

Max rarely saw Chloe so calm and composed, so she always remembered when it came out.

“Not tonight … but soon … you’ll never forget it. Max …”

Max couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, but she wasn’t going to push Chloe on this.

She should honestly probably be more hesitant …

But Max wanted to be everything she possibly could be, to Chloe.

And now that they were this – girlfriends? – it felt like it was something they should do.

Some part of Max’s body Chloe was allowed to.

But maybe they should wait until they dealt with all of the shit going on in their lives.

Max just placed a gentle kiss on Chloe’s neck, and then turned around so that they could spoon.

She exhaled deeply, and slowly.

“Okay … soon. I’ll … hold you to that, Chloe …”

Max found one of Chloe’s hands and brought it down to her inner-thighs.

She enjoyed the feeling of Chloe rubbing there, even if she knew the touch would remain respectful tonight.

It was still exhilarating.

It was still magical.

Max imagined what it would be like when Chloe’s hand moved over just a little bit and ---

 

Max opened her eyes and sat up straight with a furious blush.

Holy shit.

A wet dream was the absolute last thing she expected out of a goddamn storm dream …

And those scenes before it?

And the fact it was lucid?

The nothing about the dream added up … but Max was glad she had it, instead of another terrible storm dream.

It felt nice to be able to rest peacefully for a change.

Max looked around.

She was in the clubhouse, now, and Victoria? and Chloe were on either side of her on the couch with her.

She was pretty sure this wasn’t more dreaming, but didn’t feel obligated to pinch herself to check.

Instead, she just looked over to Chloe, and with a smile, moved to cuddle into her side and kiss warmly at her neck.

Chloe stirred at the affection – since both Chloe and Victoria had been sleeping with Max – and blinked her eyes open tiredly.

“Oh, hey, you’re up …”

Max ran a hand under Chloe’s shirt to rub at her belly since she was still feeling a little frisky from the dream, but was going to keep it respectful.

Especially if Victoria was _right there_.

Chloe appreciated the touch either way and murmured happily.

“Yeah …”

Chloe looked down at Max, or as much as she could.

“Sleep well?”

Max smirked.

“ _Very_ well … I had such an amazing dream.”

Max was going to stay respectful, but … she still moved her hand just to the edge of Chloe’s pants and suggestively tugged at it.

Chloe blinked, and blushed a little.

“Oh … that kinda dream, huh …?”

Victoria suddenly groaned so painfully, and shook her head.

“Ew-ew-ew. Gross.”

Perhaps a different, earlier version of Max would be mortified at the idea of flirting in public, but not after her insanity distorted her mind like this.

Instead, she just smirked.

Chloe did, too, and looked over to Victoria.

“The lady doth protest too much. Especially after you were snuggling into Max’s side.”

Max blinked and sat straight up to look over at Victoria.

“What?”

She knew, of course, that Victoria was into her, since they dated in some timeline.

But, still.

The thought was amusing.

Victoria huffed and blushed and crossed her arms and looked away.

“Um, rude. I definitely wasn’t … _snuggling_. It was just … an efficient use of couch space, is all.”

Max smirked.

“If you wanna snuggle with me Victoria, please ask nicely first … and I’ll _definitely_ consider it.”

Victoria blushed more and repeated the groan, fully looking away, but going quiet at the teasing.

Chloe was right.

It felt nice to get to Victoria.

Chloe laughed and grinned obnoxiously.

“Up top, Max!”

Max looked back to Chloe and happily gave her the high-five she was looking for.

Victoria sighed and stood up straight, finally composing herself after the teasing.

She looked at them.

“You two are fucking impossible. And … inappropriate. Max just passes out for like an hour and --- we still need to discuss what we’re doing about Mr. Jefferson.”

Victoria was right, of course, and it kind of sucked the air out of Max and Chloe.

They calmed down and both looked to Victoria.

Chloe did bring her arm around to possessively hold Max’s shoulder, though.

“Well … I talked with Nathan.”

Chloe cleared her throat, and looked to Max.

“We’ve got a plan of sorts. Tomorrow morning we’re going to the bunker … and Nathan is going to pretend he has drugged me and wants to take photos.”

Victoria frowned.

“I … don’t know if you can trust him to do that.”

Max had her own concerns and looked over to Chloe.

“That sounds really dangerous …”

Chloe sighed and shook her head slightly.

She hesitated.

And then looked off to one of the walls.

“I don’t trust Nathan anymore … but this is our only chance to stop Jefferson without someone going to jail for the rest of their lives.”

She looked back to Max, and Victoria.

“Besides. You two will come along too and keep him honest, right?”

Victoria blinked.

“I ---”

Max nodded, though,

“--- absolutely.”

Victoria huffed again but didn’t object when Max asserted this.

Maybe Chloe wasn’t the only one who liked a bossy Max.

Chloe looked to Max and kissed her briefly on the forehead.

When she separated, and they were both looking at each other,

“And yeah … it’s dangerous. But … it needs to happen. Rachel deserves better than this.”

Max bit her lip.

Victoria sighed wearily, closed her eyes, but did nod eventually.

“Agreed. If Nathan is right …”

She opened her eyes and frowned.

“… he _has_ to be stopped. Max and I will come along, and if it … goes wrong, somehow … I’ll have Nathan’s gun. One way or the other … he’ll be stopped …”

Max looked between Chloe and Victoria, and sighed herself.

It absolutely positively went wrong, she could always rewind too, but she was concerned about doing that now.

She only barely did it last time and she fucking passed out immediately – that was not something that could happen, here.

And if anyone could stop him, Max trusted Chloe to do it.

If anyone could stop a bully, it was Chloe.

 

“Rad. Now enough serious shit. Let’s talk about your obvious crush on my girlfriend, Victoria …”

Max and Chloe smirked, and looked off to Victoria.

Victoria huffed indignantly.

But even Victoria could appreciate the levity after the serious conversations they had been through.

She just wished Chloe – and now Max, apparently – were less obnoxious about the whole thing.

These next 24 hours were going to be so fucking painful, and not just in dealing with a fucking murderous psychopath.

She sighed.

“ **Fine**. _Christ_. Yes. Max is pretty. Okay? Are you happy? Very fucking happy?”

Might as well get rid of one pain point to make this tolerable.

Max and Chloe just smiled, and smiled, and smiled.

Victoria groaned and looked away, blushing.

These two were impossible.

But kinda endearing, if she was being honest with herself.

But she wasn’t, so they weren’t.

 

Max and Chloe just tried to not think about how crazy tomorrow was going to be.

Especially if their dreams were predictive, and the storm came.

But even with Chloe's irreverence, it was getting harder and harder to not worry.

At least Max and Chloe had each other.

Something to love and hold, before the universe provided one last awful test of their endurance.


	14. Judgement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Jefferson is amused.
> 
> Nathan is tempted.
> 
> Chloe trembles.
> 
> Max is a dork.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content notice: Someone is shot with a gun and someone burns to death. It's not in a lot of detail, but it's still there. Also, all of the various triggers related to the dark room and ... Jefferson in general, really.

Mr. Jefferson quietly tapped away at his computer, sipping his coffee contently.

In his dark room.

Somewhat unusually, Nathan had his own initiative in picking out another subject to be exposed to their wonderful art.

Perhaps Mr. Jefferson’s teachings were finally fully clicking in Nathan’s mind.

Nathan was a poor soul, unable to fully dedicate himself to either his academic or art studies, but maybe, just finally, after months of tutelage, that had changed.

Nathan’s subject for this upcoming photoshoot was both obvious and inspired – Chloe Price.

There was a certain symmetry to it after his shots of Rachel, and Chloe was always one to have her emotions on her sleeve.

Just how bad would she hurt if Mr. Jefferson revealed Rachel’s death to her?

If he showed her the wonderful shots of Rachel in that gear, so angry, tortured …

Mr. Jefferson smiled pleasantly and took another sip of his coffee.

She would be magnificently broken.

Totally helplessly broken, despite her tough, impossible exterior.

Inspired.

There was further meaning in Chloe being Nathan’s subject – by Mr. Jefferson’s count, she was the last remaining friend Nathan had that hadn’t yet became art.

Whence Nathan purged the last of his weaknesses and committed himself to art, he would do amazing things, Mr. Jefferson knew.

Just hopefully he could contain himself enough to avoid making any further mistakes.

Mr. Jefferson wasn’t sure he could tolerate another mishap like Rachel.

Even with the contract with Sean Prescott.

Perhaps for some poetic irony, Mr. Jefferson could find some way to pin Nathan’s death on Chloe.

He chuckled.

What a fun thought.

Needless to say, Nathan didn’t have to convince Mr. Jefferson very much to help him.

He was quite looking forward to this.

 

\----

 

All four of Chloe, Nathan, Victoria, and Max met outside the creepy-ass barn which had a creepy-ass bunker hidden inside its creepy-ass halls.

They were all sort of pensive, thoughtful.

Given purpose in this most awful of circumstances.

Somewhat worryingly to three of them, the weather was not kind today, a sort of dreary foggy mess.

No rain, or storm, but it was darker than usual by a wide margin, and the fog combined with the abandoned-looking barn and poor visibility in unnerving ways.

There was a forest that extended for quite a way around this barn and only one poor and well-trodden dirt road leading in or out.

But, the fog was so thick and oppressive today, they couldn’t even see the forest whence they had left their cars.

Unnerving.

Nathan slammed shut his car door, cracked his neck, and strolled up to the three of Chloe, Max, and Victoria.

His day prior had been nothing but sometimes-quiet sometimes-loud suffering, but at the very least, he could feel better knowing he was going to do today.

There was little Nathan had to tell himself he was a good person anymore, but this was one of the precious few pieces of evidence he could cling onto desperately in his lowest moments.

And he had had a lot of such moments earlier.

Today, though, he was just … numb.

All of the crying and suffering emptied him of a lot of his free-standing emotions, and perhaps this was simply depression now, but it made it easier to look up at Victoria and see her unable to meet his gaze out of shame.

“Nathan.”

Chloe spoke first, and Nathan looked to her with a neutral expression.

“Chloe.”

He then looked to Max and Victoria variously.

“I said only one person. Mr. Jefferson will know something is up if I bring three …”

Victoria nodded, and looked back to Nathan, finally.

“We’re not … going in. We’re just here to make sure _you_ do what you’re supposed to.”

Owch.

It hurt so badly to hear Victoria on a side that wasn’t his, but perhaps he deserved this.

At least his body was emptied of tears, and his purpose kept him steady.

Nathan sighed, and looked down for a few seconds, before back up to Victoria.

“Vic …”

Victoria just shook her head and crossed her arms, looking away from him.

She had a lot of time to think yesterday about Nathan and what he had done.

There was a lot that she could forgive, a lot she could rationalize, a lot she could excuse, but …

At some point, the ask was just too big.

Working with Mr. Jefferson to abduct and do god-knows what to poor innocent women was …

Victoria was a good friend, but the ask was just too big.

It hurt her as much to be cold to him as it hurt to receive, but the ask was just too big.

Especially after Kate.

Chloe calmly stroked Rachel’s bracelet while watching the small drama play out between them.

“Yeah. And in case …”

Chloe breathed in deep, and closed her eyes.

Nathan looked over to her.

“… in case you’re right, and Mr. Jefferson is … just too much … they’ll have your gun to make sure …”

Nathan blinked, but wearily sighed and pulled out his gun.

It was sort of useless without any ammo, anyway.

“Whatever … I guess backup to ensure he’s stopped is a good idea.”

Coldly, Nathan walked over to Victoria and pushed the gun sideways into her belly.

When she raised her hands up to accept it, he lingered, and for just a few seconds, affectionately stroked at Victoria’s hands and wrists with his head bowed.

Despite everything, Victoria sighed wearily and accepted the affection.

This might be the last time he could give affection to someone, depending on how this all played out.

Max and Chloe allowed them a quiet few moments.

 

Eventually, Nathan pulled away, and walked up to Chloe.

Chloe pulled out the magazine she had taken out of Nathan’s gun earlier before their tense conversation and handed it to Max, who handed it to Victoria, who sort of awkwardly put it into the gun after a few seconds of examining it.

“Are you ready?”

Nathan couldn’t really keep eye contact with Chloe.

With anyone, really.

Still, he could see Chloe scowl at him and nod.

“Yeah.”

She took a step closer to Nathan but had Max tug her back for a second or two in a quick, but meaningful kiss.

Afterwards, Max stole both of Chloe’s hands and looked up to her.

“Don’t die.”

Chloe laughed, and smiled sadly.

“I’m not planning on it …”

Nathan grunted and crossed his arms.

“No one ever does.”

The sobering statement gave Chloe pause and she sighed.

The idea that she might seriously die here and that Max might not be able to save her with her powers was a scary one.

Maybe this would have been easier if she was still that broken, damaged, careless asshole from the start of the week …

Now she had people that cared about her, genuinely, and would be destroyed if something happened to her.

She had to be careful.

She had to not just be an angry asshole.

Chloe leaned down to very quietly and gently kiss Max.

They both closed their eyes, and Chloe brought her hands up to cup both of Max’s cheeks.

The kiss was gentle, long, and thoughtful, desperately affectionate.

Max was happy to reciprocate, and when Chloe broke the kiss and pulled Max into a tight, possessive bear hug, Max was happy to return that too with a content sigh.

Chloe tried to squeeze the very fiber of Max’s existence out of her for a few seconds, and after she had earned a squeak, loosened her grip to rub thoughtfully at Max’s back.

“I’ll be careful, Max.”

Max exhaled into some part of Chloe’s chest, but smiled at the reassurance.

“Okay … I’m going to hold you to that.”

The thought earned an amused chuckle out of Chloe.

Max was picking up on the joking-at-inappropriate times, and it was cute.

Eventually, they separated, and Chloe walked up right in front of Nathan.

Chloe’s clothes were sort of awful for hiding a gun – all of it was tight and there were no pockets on the inside of her jacket.

Instead, they hid Chloe’s gun in the back of Nathan’s waistline.

Even if Mr. Jefferson saw it, it probably wouldn’t register as unusual as if Chloe had it.

With that, the two of them quietly started walking towards the creepy-ass barn, but Victoria suddenly grabbed Chloe’s arm and dragged her back for a few moments.

Chloe blinked.

Victoria frowned.

“Please remember what I said, Chloe. Don’t do anything you can’t live with.”

Chloe sighed, and looked forward.

“Yeah …”

She considered for a few seconds before tugging her arm free and looking back to Victoria.

“Thanks. And. Make sure you pull the slide back, too, since the gun was totally empty before. You’ll be in trouble otherwise.”

Victoria frowned.

“I’m not an idiot. I already did that.”

Chloe just smirked and reunited with Nathan to go into the bunker.

 

When they were out of sight, Victoria sighed and regrettably pulled the slide back on the gun to properly load it with no uncertain amounts of grumbling.

Max just smiled.

“Maybe I should be the one with the gun …?”

Victoria scoffed.

“As though _you_ know how to ---”

Max quietly got in front of Victoria, which silenced her.

Even though Victoria was taller, Max brought one of her hands to grip Victoria’s chin and force it up.

The other Max wanted to play sometimes, too, even if there were boundaries she had to respect.

Victoria fully didn’t know how to handle the contact, so she just sort of awkwardly had her face forced up and looking away from Max.

Max got a bit closer and got up on her tippy toes to whisper into Victoria’s ear while her hand slowly lowered and just stroked – with nails – at Victoria’s throat.

“Your pretty face is a lot cuter when you’re being a good, quiet girl. _Give me the gun_.”

The line was delivered heated, and slow, as a sort of throaty whisper.

Victoria blushed.

Max giggled, took the gun, and shoved her away.

Victoria couldn’t help her blush _at all_ , since the attention played so directly into her interests – so she just had to look away with a face on fire and her arms crossed.

“ _Fuck_ , Max … Don’t … d-do that.”

Max just smirked.

 

\---

 

The barn itself surprisingly wasn’t that bad.

Just a bunch of rusted-out equipment …

Chloe looked around while Nathan went to the center of the room to play with a trap door.

If Mr. Jefferson was killed in the bunker, and the bunker was hidden in such an innocuous place, then perhaps Chloe really would walk away from this scot-free.

The question on her mind now, as she watched Nathan strain to move some large slab of wood on the floor, was how much Nathan deserved to be punished with Mr. Jefferson.

Death?

Could Chloe kill him in perfectly good conscience knowing what she did now and with him doing what he could to set things straight?

Is that what Rachel would have wanted … ?

When Nathan finally got the trap door open, he sighed and gestured towards it.

Chloe frowned but walked towards him and looked down into the hole.

It actually led to some stairs, which led to a serious-looking metal door.

Like the kind of door you’d see in a bank vault or something.

Nathan pulled out a blindfold and some rope, and Chloe stared plainly at him.

“… what’s that for?”

Nathan frowned, too.

“He needs to believe you’re a … victim.”

Chloe hesitated, then crossed her arms.

“Won’t me being apparently passed out in your arms be plenty ‘victim’ enough?”

Nathan bit his lip.

“I don’t know. We always bring girls in bound and blindfolded. I don’t want him to think something might be different.”

Chloe continued to consider, looking at the offending items.

Then she looked up to him with a deeper frown.

“You’re pushing it.”

Nathan fidgeted uneasily.

“Look just --- it’ll be quick. I’ll get you right in a chair and get it off quickly … but he _needs_ to believe this is normal or … god, I don’t even know what he might do.”

In truth, Nathan was worried Mr. Jefferson already knew he was going to be betrayed by him at some point, and had already planned for that eventuality, too.

If he saw _anything_ amiss …

Chloe continued to consider, then sighed wearily and uncrossed her arms.

“Fine. Just … let’s get this over with, already.”

Nathan nodded and walked behind Chloe to put on the blindfold first.

He then carefully brought Chloe’s wrists behind her back to secure them together with some rope.

At least neither were tied too tightly, but … now Chloe was pretty helpless.

And she could feel Nathan’s shiver in his body as he put the items on her.

Fuck.

He was nervous about this.

Chloe was, too, on some level.

She knew what she needed to do, but … damn.

She tried to mostly just not think about it, but that was pretty hard when she was suddenly at Nathan’s, and soon to be Mr. Jefferson’s, mercy.

All on the hopes that Nathan’s plan would work.

Fuck.

Afterwards, Nathan placed his hands on Chloe’s shoulders from behind, and she could still feel his tremor.

“So um … here’s the plan, I guess. I’m going to pick you up before the door … then after I put you on the chair … you can steal my gun and just shoot him.”

Chloe sighed.

“Why can’t you just pop him the second he opens the door?”

Nathan hesitated.

“I just … can’t. I … _know_ I’ll hesitate and … I can’t, Chloe. I’m too fucking pathetic or whatever and I ---”

He sniffled, and the tremor got more pronounced.

Shit.

He needed to stay composed for his bit, at least …

Chloe sighed.

“Fine, fine … I’ll shoot him.”

Nathan sniffled.

“O-okay.”

Chloe hesitated for another few seconds as she heard Nathan gently recovering and trying to steady his breathing.

“And … Nathan?”

He grunted.

“… you can do this. You _have_ to do this. Rachel deserves better.”

Nathan whimpered.

“I know … I know.”

After another few seconds of pathetic recomposing, Nathan picked Chloe up and started to carry her bridal style down to the door.

This was more difficult than he imagined, since Chloe was fucking tall, but at least he had years of football training and conditioning.

He managed.

Being carried by Nathan, while pretending to be his drugged victim … Chloe had the barest moment of self-awareness that this was fucking insane.

Was this going too far to get revenge for Rachel?

No …

No.

If Nathan was right, Mr. Jefferson deserved to die.

Chloe’s resolve was steeled.

It was divine.

Victoria talked about not being able to live with herself?

Chloe wasn’t going to be able to do that if she backed down now.

 

“Ah. Nathan. I was almost beginning to believe you wouldn’t show …”

 

Mr. Jefferson’s voice sent a shiver down Chloe’s spine unconsciously.

Nathan did something she didn’t expect and squeezed her body a bit more tightly for a few seconds – affectionately? – and he cleared his throat.

“She’s … not easy to get.”

Mr. Jefferson chuckled coldly.

They were talking over some kind of intercom system, Chloe figured.

After an unsettling click and horrid screech of metal, Chloe suddenly felt much colder as she was presumably carried into the bunker.

Now the shivers were impossible to control.

Jesus this was cold – she thought she’d be able to see her breath if she exhaled.

The door closed behind them with another unsettling sound, only this time, it reverberated in a wrong way along the walls in here.

“One imagines not … Yet here she is. Ready to make wonderful art.”

Chloe suddenly felt a hand in her hair and it took every possible amount of self-restraint in her body to just not bite the damn hand right here and now.

“And she is already so unsettled … look at those goosebumps. Marvelous. I hope you gave her a moment to consider her fate before she went under.”

Fuck.

Goosebumps didn’t even begin to describe the sensation of her skin crawling at hearing him talk so coldly and indifferently about her supposed suffering.

At least his hand left her hair and she heard him walking away – though Nathan walked with him after a second or two.

“I … did what I could.”

Nathan sounded nervous to Chloe’s ears and Chloe hoped Mr. Jefferson didn’t pick up on that.

Nathan kept on carrying Chloe deeper and deeper into the bunker and Chloe tried to steel herself for the moment when she’d be freed and allowed to shoot Mr. Jefferson and just get this whole awful ordeal over with.

“And you appear to be learning so well … Your father will love these shots, Nathan. I think this may be enough to prove you no longer need my training.”

Chloe felt Nathan stop and tense up.

Uh-oh.

Did that change things, somehow?

“U-uh … what do you mean?”

 _Damn it_ , Nathan.

Chloe clenched her teeth.

Mr. Jefferson chuckled quietly as Chloe heard a creak – probably from something he had just sat down on.

She heard nails tapping on a glass surface.

“I will offer only minimal supervision for this photoshoot … and then your father will see how far you’ve come. We needn’t do any more sessions, then. So long as this _one_ photoshoot goes swimmingly …”

Nathan still wasn’t moving, and it put an awful worried pit in Chloe’s stomach.

Is this what Nathan meant about Mr. Jefferson being convincing and difficult?

Fuck.

And Chloe couldn’t say anything yet either until she was unbound and had Nathan’s gun.

“… you mean … if this goes well … my dad will be happy? And there won’t be any more of these … shoots?”

He was clearly considering, fuck.

Mr. Jefferson chuckled again.

“Don’t speak as if the concept is strange or … impossible to comprehend, Nathan. But yes, that is what I am saying. I have the utmost confidence in how this shoot will come out …”

Chloe felt an uneasy exhale against her face, but they kept moving deeper into the bunker.

She was finally put down on something she assumed to be a chair.

Good.

Nathan took off Chloe’s blindfold and Chloe barely peaked and eye open to _glare_ at him and make sure he kept up his end of the deal.

Nathan’s face was so, so, so troubled – he was clearly conflicted.

Chloe’s eye meaningfully went down to her bonds.

Don’t fuck this up now, Nathan.

Nathan followed her eyes and froze.

He clearly had a decision to make.

Betray Chloe or Betray Mr. Jefferson.

It wasn’t really a decision in Chloe’s mind since she knew about Max and Victoria waiting outside, and they weren’t on his side anymore.

But perhaps it was just her mind refusing to accept she might actually get drugged and assaulted just like Rachel had been, since the idea was horrifying on a level she refused to accept.

But she was helpless.

She tightened her fists and hoped Nathan made just one good decision in his fucking life.

“And look at her …”

Chloe hurriedly closed the one eye that had been kind of open at Mr. Jefferson’s voice.

“… she will make such wonderful art. Just wait until you tell her about Rachel …”

About Rachel?

Her death … ?

Or something else … ?

 

Chloe didn’t have long to consider.

Nathan’s hands went to her wrists and he removed her bindings.

Fucking finally.

Chloe stood right the fuck up, opened her eyes wide, reached behind Nathan to pull out the gun, and shove him the fuck away, towards Mr. Jefferson.

She raised her gun to the two of them.

Mr. Jefferson widened his eyes for just one second, but then smirked and stood up.

“Well well. This is a surprise. Another mishap, Nathan …?”

Mr. Jefferson knew better than to move physically when a gun was pointed at him, though he did cross his arms and look at Nathan calmly.

He had been sitting on some couch thing in the middle of the room, and now that Chloe could actually see, she could see that her chair was surrounded by expensive-looking cameras on stands and other photography equipment she only vaguely understood the purpose of.

Nathan awkwardly stumbled back more towards the couch, and ended up about halfway between Mr. Jefferson and Chloe.

He looked to Mr. Jefferson.

“U-uh … I don’t … I don’t know.”

Mr. Jefferson just sighed.

“What a surprise. Do ---”

Chloe cleared her throat and waggled the gun a little bit.

“--- _I’m_ the one with the gun. _I’m_ doing the talking.”

Mr. Jefferson just made a thoughtful sound and looked over to Chloe.

It was sort of unnerving how having a gun pointed at him didn’t seem to impact him in the slightest.

This entire place was unnerving.

Chloe was still fucking shaking, and it couldn’t have all have been from the cold.

These walls felt too close, too sterile, too perfect.

This whole place felt too perfect, just like Nathan’s room.

Everything carefully laid out and orchestrated.

“Very well, Chloe. What inspired words do you have for my ears? I’m sure you have some … questions.”

Chloe considered just shooting the both of them and calling it a day.

But … Rachel.

Chloe frowned.

“What was Nathan going to tell me about Rachel?”

Mr. Jefferson looked off to the side, to some shelves on the far side of the room.

She followed his eyes -

Chloe didn’t see much of interest except some binders –

Except one of the binders was labeled Rachel –

Their eyes came back to one another at the same time.

Mr. Jefferson smiled.

“You see, Chloe …”

He carefully took a step away from Chloe, towards the folders.

Chloe watched him as carefully, and allowed the movement, for now.

“… this is a very special, magical place. Here, we don’t just … take pictures. _Anyone_ can take pictures.”

Nathan grunted and looked to Chloe.

“Just shoot him already! T-this is ---”

Chloe quickly pointed the gun to Nathan.

“--- Quiet! I want to hear what he knows about Rachel.”

Nathan bit his lip viciously and looked so pained, again.

“Yes, Nathan … do be a dear and let me finish … Chloe deserves to know the truth, don’t you think?”

Mr. Jefferson kept inching towards the binders.

Chloe pointed the gun back to him.

“Where are you going? Stop.”

Mr. Jefferson paused and uncrossed his arms.

“I want to _show you the truth about Rachel_ , Chloe. The last moments of her life … that Nathan had complete control over.”

Chloe blinked, and looked to Nathan.

“You said Mr. Jefferson did everything …”

Mr. Jefferson chuckled and inched closer to the binders while Chloe wasn’t looking.

His gun was sitting pretty on the desk nearby, too.

He just had to get a bit closer …

Nathan whimpered.

“I … I didn’t have a choice, Chloe!”

Mr. Jefferson took another step towards the binders.

“What the hell did you do to Rachel, Nathan?!”

Nathan whimpered again.

Chloe pointed the gun at him, and Mr. Jefferson took the opportunity to finally get to the binders and pull out the Rachel one.

Chloe noticed, and had to point the gun back at Mr. Jefferson.

“Stop moving, god damn it!”

Fuck.

She was getting angry now at the potential thought of Nathan lying to her about his involvement with Rachel.

What if she was only seeing what Nathan wanted her to, and he was ultimately more responsible than Mr. Jefferson was?

Would that damn binder have the answers?

Mr. Jefferson appropriately froze but presented the binder.

“The truth is in here, Chloe … all you have to do is look at it. Whatever lies Nathan has told you will be revealed for the awful deceptions they are …”

Nathan took a step closer to Chloe –

Chloe pointed the gun back at him –

Nathan raised his hands in surrender up by his chest, his face trembling and closer to tears –

“Chloe! Please … _listen_ to me … he’s manipulating you! You don’t want to look in the binders … It’s … _evil_.”

Mr. Jefferson scoffed.

“That’s exactly what someone ashamed of what they did to Rachel would say!”

He looked to Chloe.

“Chloe. Listen to _me_. This binder contains everything you want to know about what happened to Rachel. No stone unturned. Every beautiful detail … and Nathan’s involvement in it.”

Fuck.

Chloe pointed the gun between Mr. Jefferson, and Nathan, and Mr. Jefferson, and Nathan, and she tightly gripped her free hand, and she breathed a bit harder, and that goddamn shake still hadn’t gone anywhere –

Who should she believe?

Nathan had already lied to her so, so much.

It’s awful convenient he just blames Mr. Jefferson for everything as soon as the jig was up and Chloe had him dead to rights.

But … Mr. Jefferson clearly had some complicity in this.

How much was his involvement?

Who was ultimately Rachel’s killer?

She looked to Mr. Jefferson.

“Who killed Rachel?!”

Fuck.

Her voice was uneven now.

She needed to not lose control of herself again.

Max wasn’t around to fix her mistakes.

But Max wasn’t around to steady her shake or balance her nerves, either.

Chloe was just faced with the most tempting of propositions – finally knowing everything she deserved to about Rachel.

Mr. Jefferson plainly smiled.

“Why, Nathan did. You see … he’s not very good at things, and … whoopsy-doodle, overdosed Rachel on some drugs.”

Chloe immediately looked to Nathan, and Nathan whimpered and viciously shook his head.

“I didn’t, Chloe! I mean … I did, but I didn’t! Ugh. Rachel was … s-she … she was so strong … and angry … Mr. Jefferson ordered me to dose her again! And it was … too much.”

Mr. Jefferson scoffed.

“A convenient lie to top off the mountain of lies he’s already presented to you. Chloe, Nathan is a dangerous, deranged child. He has been bringing girls into my studio for months, drugged and unconscious, and I’ve been slowly building up a case against him that not even Prescott money could bail him out of.”

He waggled the binder.

“It is all in here. Everything. You will see I’m telling the truth if you just … _read_. Look.”

Fuck.

Nathan _was_ dangerous and deranged, but … all of this?

And he did say Mr. Jefferson had blackmail on him earlier, but … maybe that was just to manipulate her into not wanting to see it now?

Fuck.

Mr. Jefferson just had to get a little bit more doubt in Chloe to read the binder …

He couldn’t help his smirk.

Nathan took a step closer to Chloe, and she pointed the gun at him again, trembling.

“ _Chloe_ … please! I’m not … I’m too stupid to put words t-together like him, but … I … l-loved, Rachel, okay? I didn’t want her to die! I didn’t want to hurt her! You know that! We spent … y-years … together … I know I don’t deserve it but just – _trust_ me! You don’t want to look in there! You’ll never forget what you see in there …”

He sniffled and looked down.

“I know I haven’t …”

Fuck.

How far was going too far to find out the truth about Rachel?

Was almost getting shot in the bathroom too far?

Was stealing from Blackwell too far?

Was almost losing Max to time travel bullshit too far?

Was pushing Nathan as hard as she could too far?

Was pretending to be drugged and tied up too far?

At what point would Chloe be content that she had done everything she reasonably could?

 

She looked over to Mr. Jefferson … so smug and confident-looking, and Nathan, months-long-tortured by his guilt and agony.

Even now, gently crying at the thought of whatever was in that fucking binder.

Chloe didn’t want to believe Nathan, but his emotions seemed genuine, and his plea authentic.

Everything about Mr. Jefferson was fake and overly-perfect, planned and meticulous.

Planned.

Mr. Jefferson probably planned on this … fuck.

Chloe didn’t know who to believe, and who to punish.

Her desire to find out the truth about Rachel was strong, but …

There was something else, too.

 _You need to be able to live with yourself_.

Chloe could tell her anger was getting the better of her.

She wasn’t thinking about this rationally – just the simple base urge of doing everything she could for Rachel.

But Chloe wasn’t like that, anymore.

She could be better.

More thoughtful.

Less angry.

She had to be.

For Max.

 

For herself.

 

She needed to just …

Chill.

 

Fuck.

With some difficulty, she closed her eyes for a few seconds, and breathed in harshly.

She tried to steady herself but couldn’t keep herself from shaking.

She looked to Mr. Jefferson and pointed the gun at him.

“Over here. Put the binder on the table. _Slowly_.”

She managed, at least, to even out her expression and voice.

Nathan whimpered again and hid his face in his hands, slouching under the agony of failing yet again.

But Chloe knew what she had to do.

Mr. Jefferson just smiled so widely and obliged Chloe, carefully walking to the area Chloe instructed – the small coffee table in front of the couch.

He placed the binder down on the table and –

 

Chloe pointed the gun at Mr. Jefferson and pulled the trigger.

 

But she didn’t shoot to kill.

 

She aimed for one of his knees.

Nathan flinched at the gunshot and looked up in a hurry to see what had happened.

Mr. Jefferson blinked, then groaned in tremendous agony and fell to the floor and onto his back.

He quickly brought his hands to the knee, which was convenient, since Chloe walked up to him and shot the knee again with both hands over it.

She shot the other knee and backed up a little bit to see him squirm and suffer.

This wasn’t out of anger.

She wasn’t enjoying this.

Chloe was a different person now – if she just tried to do things right, if she just cared, she was a different person.

This wasn’t revenge, at least not for herself.

This was a calculated, careful judgement delivered calmly and evenly.

To teach a lesson.

 

Mr. Jefferson worked through his shock while Nathan just watched, confused and horrified and sad all at once –

“Ugh! You … _bitch_! You little ---”

Chloe pointed the gun to Mr. Jefferson’s head, which shut him up in a hurry.

She cocked the hammer of her revolver back – an action both unnecessary and pointed.

But she didn’t say anything.

She just watched Jefferson realize he might actually die.

She just watched his expression crack and fall.

His careful façade fail.

There are a lot of assumptions one makes about how they will behave when there’s a gun pointed at them.

But in reality, they often prove wrong.

And Jefferson, despite being confident for various reasons that he wasn’t going to get shot and he’d be able to kill Chloe and Nathan and cover the whole thing up –

There was that sudden fear, that inescapable feeling of having planned on everything going one way and realizing that the world was going another way.

Jefferson closed his eyes and exhaled a horrid, shuddering sound.

His life flashed before his eyes.

He didn’t want to die.

Chloe just calmly frowned.

“This? This _fear_? This is the _bullshit_ you put people through. Fucking sucks, doesn’t it?”

Jefferson just considered.

Nathan blinked.

“P-pull the trigger … already. Kill him!”

Chloe looked over to Nathan, as did Jefferson, and Nathan was able to see the fear in Jefferson’s eyes – something he had never done, prior, and it made him gasp.

Chloe hesitated for a few seconds, then sighed, and put her gun away.

“No … I don’t … I don’t think I can live with the knowledge of having killed someone.”

It was a fear always present in Chloe’s mind – even if she felt like she _needed_ to earlier for the sake of Rachel, she didn’t know if she could actually go through with it.

And if she could live with herself afterwards.

She saw how it haunted Frank, and Frank killed an actual psycho.

There was a lot less nuance there, and Damon was provably guilty and completely wrong.

Here, Chloe didn't know who to believe, or if the truth was even possible to be known between the two of them.

Maybe her purpose wasn’t to be an angry asshole, a vehicle for justice and revenge.

Maybe her purpose was to have a happy, peaceful life.

With Max in it.

Maybe even Victoria.

She couldn’t live with herself if she killed someone, maybe, but she could easily live with herself in non-fatally teaching someone a lesson.

Jefferson looked back to Chloe and whimpered.

“T-thank you …”

Nathan just didn’t know how to handle all of this.

Chloe frowned and kicked Jefferson in the side, which earned an appropriately-pained groan.

“It’s not for _you_ , asshole. This is for _me_.”

In fact …

Chloe looked over to the binder and frowned more deeply.

She picked it up.

Nathan’s eyes widened and he took another step closer and raised his hand up –

Chloe looked up to him and raised her other hand up in a stop gesture.

Nathan stopped.

They frozen for a few seconds while Jefferson produced another pained noise.

Chloe looked back to him for just one second before back to Nathan.

“I’m not going to look inside.”

Nathan was visibly relieved, but the look of worry came right back when Chloe’s lighter came out.

“You said this was --- what, evil? This art? Then fuck it.”

While Jefferson also said it was ‘the truth’, maybe ‘the truth’ didn’t matter.

And maybe he was just lying, anyway.

She lit the inside pages of the binder – since there were some paper pages to use as tinder.

She put her lighter away, and calmly walked over to the trash can, where there was even _more_ tinder, and dropped it down in there.

Nathan followed after her and watched it burn.

All of the evidence against him … all of the sins against Rachel …

If only the fire could purge his mind of the memories, too.

Jefferson made a pathetic sound.

Chloe and Nathan looked back and watched him start to painfully crawl over to the trashcan.

“N-no! Don’t … the … the _art_!”

Chloe crossed her arms and sighed.

Damn it, dude.

Give it up, already.

Learn your fucking lesson.

She considered pulling out her gun again, but instead just backed up a bit and watched him continue to push himself to try and save his “art”.

Nathan blinked, but mirrored what Chloe did to give Jefferson some space.

“No … no no no! It’s … no! You _can’t_ \---”

Jefferson grasped at the trashcan and tried to tug it down.

 

But in his panic, he tugged it in the wrong direction.

 

All of the burning refuse, the binder, the various burning pieces of paper – all of it fell onto his back.

It scattered all over and instantly set various parts of his body on fire.

Chloe blinked.

Nathan blinked.

Damn, dude.

They both briefly considered putting him out but extinguished the idea pretty quickly.

This was a self-inflicted wound.

Jefferson gasped and then tried to pat himself down and roll over but ---

The three of them heard a horrid metallic screeching noise – it was distant, but still _loud_.

They all covered their ears and closed their eyes from the pressure but ---

Chloe opened her eyes to see the flames on Jefferson suddenly consuming every single inch of Jefferson’s body.

“Holy shit …”

As Nathan and Chloe recovered from the sound of the scream? they shielded their eyes from the bright light of the unnatural fire.

Jefferson screamed.

But not for long.

It was a sound neither Nathan or Chloe would forget.

As pained as anyone could ever make it, as desperate as possible, as scared and uncertain and unloved and –

Chloe couldn’t look at him, anymore.

She tightly closed her eyes and looked away, trying to forget immediately what she was seeing and hearing.

Eventually, the fire put itself out, after consuming most of Jefferson.

It didn’t take too long, considering the freaky fire burned way brighter and faster than any fire Chloe had ever seen.

When she heard the fire stop, Chloe opened her eyes, but intentionally avoided looking at Jefferson.

She just rubbed at her own arm and looked up to the ceiling, considering things.

Nathan awkwardly considered things for a few moments, too.

Then he walked over to Chloe.

Chloe looked over to him after a second or two and just crossed her arms.

“I gave him a fucking chance. To see what he was doing … to fucking learn. And he just … _ugh_. What an idiot …”

She looked off to one of the walls, and Nathan sighed.

“I guess … some people will never learn.”

Chloe sighed, too.

“I guess not.”

Nathan sort of awkwardly crossed his arms and took a step closer to Chloe.

“… I’ve been thinking about what I did a lot, lately.”

Chloe frowned and looked over to him.

“I’m not going to forgive you for anything. Don’t even ask.”

Nathan flinched and looked down, sadly.

Chloe shook her head.

She then uncrossed her arms to pull out her gun and walked _right_ in front of him and placed the gun to his forehead.

Nathan whimpered, but didn’t resist it in his shame and self-loathing.

He did start crying again, though.

“Not after Rachel … not after trying to rape me … not after pulling a gun on me. Maybe you had your fucking reasons but that’s not a fucking excuse.”

He whimpered again and brought his hands up to cover his face – not struggle for the gun.

Chloe’s words were biting but her tone was even.

This wasn’t coming from a place of anger, anymore.

She then sighed, and put the gun away, and shoved him away.

Nathan awkwardly tripped over the charred body of Jefferson and fell onto his back.

He pathetically scrambled onto his ass and scooted back against done of the walls.

Chloe just watched him go with a slight frown and crossed her arms.

“You don’t deserve mercy. But I deserve a life with a clean conscience.”

She carefully stepped over Jefferson’s body – still not looking at it - and walked to the exit, but paused just before the door.

She looked back to Nathan.

 

“Something you’ll never have.”

 

Nathan whimpered again and once more broke into open, pathetic sobbing.

Chloe just sighed sadly and looked forward.

“And … touch another woman again and I won’t give you another chance.”

She left the bunker calmly and evenly, considering everything all at once.

Nathan didn’t deserve another chance.

But Chloe couldn’t be his executioner.

She deserved to come out of this nightmare week with some fucking peace.

Some knowledge that what happened to her and Rachel would never happen again.

And she deserved it without having to remember the horrifying pained scream of Jefferson, or see his charred body, or watch Nathan beg for his life, or watch the life slowly fade from Nathan.

 

Maybe this is what it meant to close the chapter of her life with Rachel in it.

Maybe this is what it meant to appreciate her life, and the people in it.

Maybe this is what it meant to not be an angry asshole.

What a strange thought.

 

She left the bunker and barn breathing easier than she had in months.

Like an awful stone had been removed from her shoulders and back.

 

When she stepped out, she just breathed in deeply, breathed out harshly, and looked up to the sky.

With a smile.

No fog.

Sky still looked like death, but, whatever.

 

Max and Victoria quietly but quickly came up to Chloe.

Max hugged Chloe in a bit-too-tight of a manner, and Chloe smirked as she looked down to Max.

She brought one of her arms around Max and hugged her viciously tightly in return.

She just delivered loving kisses all along Chloe’s neck.

“Chloe! I’m so glad you’re alive …”

Chloe kept her smirk.

“Yeah. I’m short of any gunshot or stab wounds, too …”

Max sniffled, but she pulled her head away just enough so that she could look up to Chloe.

“… maybe I can interest you in one?”

This girl.

Using her words against her like that.

Chloe laughed and leaned down to place an equally loving kiss on Max’s lips, and for a moment or two, the two just enjoyed each other.

But … of course.

Victoria was there.

And she groaned.

“Yes, yes, yes, happy reunion, blah-de-blah-blah. What happened with Nathan and Mr. Jefferson?”

Chloe rolled her eyes, but she saw that Victoria had smiled when she first saw Chloe was alive.

She knew Victoria cared and was happy this all turned out well.

She just didn’t know how to express it.

Max cutely snuggled into Chloe’s side.

“… yeah. What happened, Clo? Did you hear that … _scream_?”

Chloe sighed, and looked between Victoria and Max with a quick nod.

 “Yeah. I did.”

Chloe looked back to the barn and hesitated for a few seconds before looking back.

“In the bunker … we find Jefferson. I get Nathan’s gun but hesitate since Jefferson says he has the truth about Rachel.”

Victoria blinked.

“What’s the truth about Rachel?”

Chloe shook her head with another little sigh.

“Dunno. Don’t care. Didn’t exactly trust either of ‘em, and Jefferson and Nathan were offering contradicting stories.”

Max blinked.

“So what’d you do? Kill them both?”

Chloe looked to Max and kissed her mophead hair, and calmly breathed in her smell for a second or two.

“No. I shot Jefferson to cripple him and then burn his ‘truth’ about Rachel … but he’s so fucking dedicated to his art he tries to put out the fire.”

The three go quiet.

“And then … he accidentally spills some burning papers on himself … and then …”

Chloe’s voice got all low and quiet, fragile.

“… I hear that scream, and then all of the sudden … _woosh_. His entire body is engulfed. In this … ridiculous fire. Brighter, bigger, meaner, faster, hotter … than any fire I’d ever seen in my life before.”

Victoria blinked.

“He _burned_ to death? Jesus Christ.”

Chloe sighed.

“Yeah …”

Max shuddered, but Chloe was there to tightly hug her.

Victoria hugged herself and looked off into the distance in consideration.

The three were quiet for a bit.

Then, Nathan came out from the barn, drained of everything and heavy with the guilt of his actions.

But free.

It was a weird contradicting feeling that he didn’t like at all, but it was better than how he felt this morning, at least.

The three turned to face him.

The four exchanged various wordless looks.

No one really knew what to think of Nathan, anymore.

What he deserved.

Nathan looked down and quietly walked up in front of Max, seeing she had his gun.

“… can I have my gun back?”

He couldn’t even look her in the eyes.

Max sighed.

Chloe grunted, and possessively hugged Max a bit more.

“Beat it, Nathan.”

Nathan sighed a weary, exhausted thing, but nodded.

“Yeah …”

Max frowned very slightly, but didn’t feel obligated to give the gun back, particularly after everything she had learned about him and everything he had done.

Victoria just sadly watched the exchange, with her own no uncertain amount of shame for the decisions she had made.

Nathan kept his head hung low as he walked back to his car.

He started and drove off as the three of them turned to face each other again, with Max still melted in Chloe’s side, and Victoria close.

Victoria watched the car drive off, though.

“… what did you do to Nathan, if anything?”

Chloe sighed and shrugged.

“When I went into the barn … I wanted to kill him. This whole week … I wanted to kill him. But … when I had the actual gun in my hands … and I was thinking about what would happen … to _me_ … if I did … I dunno. I just …”

She slowly looked over to Max, and spoke to her hair, though her volume was loud enough that all could hear,

“… I thought about my future with Max … and how it might fuck me up to kill him … like how it fucked up Frank to kill.”

She looked back to Victoria, and hesitated.

“So … I gave Nathan another chance. I don’t forgive him for a single thing he’s done … and he’s dead to me … but …”

She frowned.

“… if I find out he’s done _anything_ to _another_ woman … and I mean _anything_ … I’ll chop his fucking dick off. Shove it somewhere the sun don’t shine. Fucker.”

Victoria blinked, but sighed.

She looked down to the floor.

“I guess that’s what I wanted … this shit is so confusing. And hard.”

Chloe nodded, and hesitated herself.

“But you’re … you’ve learned … you’re doing the right things, now. Maybe he can, too … so long as he stays the fuck away from me.”

Victoria scoffed but smiled sadly.

She crossed her arms and looked back up to Chloe.

“Thanks, Chloe …”

Chloe smiled just barely, too.

“And I think you …”

Victoria blinked.

Chloe looked away, and hesitated awkwardly, but then scoffed at herself for being awkward about this and looked back to Victoria.

“… and I think you helped me in the bunker, too. I thought about what you said … and if I could live with myself if I gave into my anger … and took the revenge I thought I wanted.”

Victoria blinked, but smiled a bit wider.

“As I thought about if I could live with myself having done what I did …”

Chloe nodded, and squeezed Max again.

She kissed Max’s hair and breathed it in again.

“And I guess I’m just not an angry asshole anymore … like you’re not a ruthless bitch anymore.”

Victoria smirked.

“I think I’m still a little bitchy …”

Both Chloe and Max laughed softly, and it felt good to laugh.

“Maybe a little.”

But it was an endeared thing.

Chloe took a step closer to Victoria and Max followed after her, being buried into her side, and all.

“Want a hug, icky Vicky?”

Victoria scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Victoria … my name is _Victoria_.”

She hesitated, but then pointedly moved to Max’s other side, and with even more clearly-pained hesitation, brought one of her arms around so that Max was now sandwiched.

“… and yes. Yes I do.”

The three smiled.

 

But the good times weren’t meant to last.

 

They heard awful thunder, off in the distance.

The three looked to the source but couldn’t see it with the forest around them.

Max and Chloe wearily sighed and looked to one another.

Max leaned up for a quick kiss on Chloe’s cheek.

“Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more …”

Victoria scoffed.

“ _Unto_ the breach, idiot.”

Despite the reminder of the storm, Chloe scoffed herself and just smirked.

“Y’all nerds, y’know that?”

Max giggled.

Victoria just rolled her eyes.

“Let’s go home already. This place gives me the creeps.”

 

If their dreams were right, they still had a little bit of time until the storm came.

They dropped Victoria off at Blackwell and snuck back into Chloe’s room.

For at least a little bit of calm before the storm.

The weather today was already weird and unpredicted.

Max and Chloe both hoped that that’s as weird as it got.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, there was a decision on whether or not to kill Nathan, and the fic branched out into two separate endings, but ... they were basically the same, except for how much Victoria bonded with Max and Chloe, and how much trauma Chloe had. Since the ending was basically the same, the choice didn't feel meaningful to me, so I cut it.
> 
> So if you really hate Nathan (and I don't blame you), you can just imagine Chloe pulled the trigger when she put the gun to Nathan's head, couldn't get the image of Nathan dying out of her mind afterwards, and Victoria was upset and didn't become friendly with Max and Chloe.


	15. Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The storm comes.
> 
> Max feels release from her powers.
> 
> Rachel feels release from her duty.
> 
> Chloe feels release from her emotions.

Max and Chloe sat on the swings in Chloe’s backyard, and just thought about things.

When the emotions weren’t so raw and fresh, Chloe had some time to reevaluate the decisions she made and how everything went down.

Victoria, Nate, Jefferson, Max …

What a crazy fucking hell week.

While Chloe stared at the grass all around them and gently swung back and forth, she really had to think about giving Nathan and Jefferson a second chance.

Even if Jefferson immediately squandered it and ended up killing himself, albeit with some supernatural assistance.

Is that what a good person does?

Give mercy?

Try and teach lessons?

Or did that just make her weak, since she couldn’t pull the trigger?

If Nathan went and did some more shit with women, would Chloe be responsible?

Or was it simply not her fucking job to police his behavior, and his behavior could only be blamed on him?

Did she qualify as an enabler, now?

Probably not …

Enablers don’t put a gun to the forehead of the enablee and demand they stop.

Fuck.

This was so hard.

She sighed and leaned a bit forward, more, stopping her swinging.

Max noticed, and bit her lip, and stood up to stand in front of Chloe.

Chloe breathed in and looked up to Max with a faint smile.

“Hey.”

Max crossed her arms.

“Do you regret how things happened?”

Chloe scoffed, and sat up straight, placing both of her hands on the chains of her swing seat.

But she closed her eyes, and hesitated on an answer.

“I … don’t know.”

Max nodded and leaned forward somewhat so that they were in closer proximity.

She brought her hands up to Chloe’s shoulders to rub at them gently.

Max bit her lip.

Chloe opened her eyes.

“It’s just … fuck. What if Nathan goes and does something? I could have prevented it.”

Max shrugged.

“What if I could save everyone, if I tried to use my powers a bit more? I could have fixed it.”

Chloe blinked.

“This is … different, Max, your powers were ---”

Max leaned forward a bit more and placed a loving, tender kiss on Chloe’s forehead.

After they separated, they just quietly appreciated each other for a few seconds.

Max sighed.

“Is it different, though? My powers haunt me when I use them … this is clearly haunting you now, too.”

Chloe went quiet in consideration.

Max smiled, gently.

“Maybe … maybe asking ‘what if’ is the wrong question.”

Chloe hummed thoughtfully.

“Then what’s the right question?”

Max shrugged.

“Maybe, ‘did I do what was best at the time, with what I knew then?’”

They both went quiet in consideration.

Max’s hands gently slid down Chloe’s shoulders to steal her hands and squeeze them.

They just kept looking at each other.

Eventually, Chloe sighed and looked down, at Max’s shoes.

Still ugly shoes.

They’d have to fix that some time.

Wow, what a weird reminder of when the most difficult thing on their mind was breaking into Blackwell and tagging some statues.

Chloe shook her head as if to dispel it, and then stood up with a faint smile.

“I guess that’s all we can ask out of ourselves, isn’t it?”

They smiled together and shared a brief but affectionate kiss.

Chloe would literally never get tired of how cute it was that Max had to get up on her tippy toes to kiss Chloe.

Just like she never got over it when Rachel had to always do it.

The sound of distant thunder had them looking off into the distance, towards the sea.

They turned to face it, and Max was once again in the place she belonged, by Chloe’s side, with her arm around her shoulder, holding her tight and protectively.

But Chloe was in the place she belonged, too, with Max’s arm gently wrapping around Chloe’s back, and affectionately holding her side.

The sky looked awful.

Sicky, gray, boiling with some yet unseen rage.

The clouds shifted in ways that seemed too fast and unnatural to Chloe’s eyes, almost surreal.

It reminded Chloe of the nightmares she had had about the storm, and she sighed.

One dream in particular …

She looked over to Max and bit her lip.

There was one dream she didn’t tell Max about and didn’t want to tell her about.

A car crash …

“Hey Max …”

Max blinked and looked over to Chloe.

“Yeah?”

Chloe bit her lip, nervously looked away, and then back to Max.

“What if … what if this storm kills one of us? Or both?”

Max sighed wearily, but then smiled sadly and rested her head on Chloe’s shoulder.

She rubbed meaningfully firmly at Chloe’s side for a second or two.

“I don’t know, Chloe … I don’t want to even think about you not being in my life.”

Fuck.

Chloe almost sniffled at that but shook her head and rested it on Max’s own.

“Yeah … I don’t either. You’re my everything.”

As the words came out, Chloe had to reflect on them.

Maybe … maybe the Chloe at the start of the week could say that and not think twice about it.

Maybe when they were just in the clubhouse, and Max was helping Chloe through her damage of Rachel … maybe Max really was everything to Chloe.

But Maybe Chloe’s purpose in life wasn’t to be so wholly and totally committed to someone.

Maybe that was just making the same mistake of Rachel, again …

But was that a mistake?

What if Rachel ---

That question.

What if.

Chloe sighed and closed her eyes.

Max wasn’t _everything_ to Chloe.

Chloe had done things without her guidance and help, like stop Jefferson and judge Nathan.

She sure fucking appreciated Max being around, and it made everything easier, particularly Rachel, but … Chloe could function without her, she felt like.

It wasn’t quite like Rachel, where literally everything was viewed through her like a prism.

Did that mean she loved Max less?

Or just loved her differently?

Maybe this is just what it meant to mature some more.

Fuck.

Weird thoughts.

“Hey Max … ? Another difficult bullshit question. Um. Sorry.”

Max scoffed but was smiling.

“What is it, Chloe?”

Chloe started to gently sway from side to side, and Max moved with her.

“Do you ever think we’re too dedicated to one another?”

Max hummed thoughtfully and hesitated on her answer.

“… sometimes. We’ve done a lot of … crazy … _bullshit_ , these past few days, Chloe …”

Chloe exhaled uneasily, but nodded.

“Yeah …”

Max separated herself from Chloe’s side to stand in front of her.

Chloe blinked her eyes open and looked down to Max.

Max just smiled.

“And … you don’t regret being too dedicated to Rachel, do you?”

Chloe crossed her arms and considered the question.

But the answer didn’t take that long.

She uncrossed her arms with a sigh, and gently smiled.

“… no.”

Max smiled and placed both of her hands on Chloe’s chest in front of her shoulders.

Chloe placed her hands on Max’s sides.

They both affectionately rubbed while their smiles grew.

“So … maybe I don’t want to think about one of us dying from this, but … I don’t want that … fear … keeping us from being whatever we can to each other _now_.”

Chloe nodded thoughtfully and moved one of her hands up to stroke at Max’s cheek.

Max mirrored the movement.

“Yeah … I’m … really happy you’re back in my life, Max.”

Max smiled so wide and leaned right back up for a kiss.

This didn’t satisfy Chloe when she pulled away afterwards, though, and they started to delicately make out.

They could forget the stupid bullshit about to happen by just focusing on each other.

 

For a little while, anyway.

Some time later – Chloe wasn’t really keeping track – a horrid, metallic screech rung out from the distance.

They broke away from making out with a gasp and both turned to face the source – out to the sea.

The scream came with an impossibly strong gust of wind – it almost knocked the two of them over, and flung various objects in the backyard against the fence.

Jesus.

Barely processing what they were seeing and feeling, the sky started to shift and morph.

The color slowly shifted from the pitch black to a very surreal and unnatural dark blood red.

With it, everything around them shifted in color grade, too.

A hellish red.

They then watched as the sky _cracked_ open, almost as though something was being sent from the divine heaven above as punishment.

The crack was easily the most surreal aspect so far – which was saying something.

It looked like it created a portal right into outer space – with stars visible and everything.

They watched helplessly as the clouds started to swirl and circle around the crack, slowly building up speed and intensity.

The crack started to pulsate, growing and shrinking, but it wasn’t long before a large hurricane was formed underneath it.

“Jesus.”

Max breathed in,

“The storm …”

Chloe frowned.

“We knew it’d come on Friday, fuck …”

Soon, the crack was obfuscated, but the unreality it provided was still evident with the way it seemed to supercharge the winds and clouds around it.

They heard one more horrid screeching scream, and this one was so loud that they had to cover their ears – and yet another impossible gust of wind.

The clouds above them immediately started to rain – and not gently, either.

As the hurricane kept growing, and growing, and growing, Max and Chloe looked to each other and quickly went inside to shield themselves from the rain.

Inside, Joyce and David were already looking outside at the storm being formed, equally as speechless as Max and Chloe were.

“What in God’s glorious name is that …?”

Joyce sounded so dazed.

No one blamed her for that.

Max and Chloe hurriedly walked past the two of them, heading towards the front door.

They were holding hands.

“Never mind that. We need to get to shelter.”

David raised his hands to rub at Joyce’s shoulders and they turned to face the still-leaving Max and Chloe.

“Wait. Stop.”

Max and Chloe frowned, but did stop to turn to face Joyce and David.

Max took her place in Chloe’s side as she was wont to do.

It kept Chloe from crossing her arms in annoyance, but she didn’t hide it from her face.

“Now’s not the time, David. Just look at that thing. It’s going to fucking level this town.”

David nodded gloomily.

“… and Blackwell isn’t going to evacuate.”

The three of them, excluding David, blinked.

“What?”

Max forced a response out first.

David just nodded again and sighed.

“I know Mr. Wells. He’s going to do this exactly by the book, which means they’re going to be in the gym in the drained pool.”

Chloe scoffed.

“That’s stupid. Just one look at that thing and you’d know ---”

David grunted.

“--- not everyone makes decisions on the fly, Chloe. Mr. Wells isn’t going to take a risk in breaking the policies, and he’s not going to risk a school bus turning over or something from the wind.”

Max and Chloe looked to one another.

Joyce was looking very carefully at David, at once both horrified by the storm and confused as to the relevance of this conversation.

“We have to get to shelter, Blackwell will ---”

 “--- I’m going to Blackwell.”

Max forced the words out first again, and the three of them, excluding Max, looking to her with no uncertain amounts of blinking.

David went quiet in consideration.

Chloe looked at Max, and her face was conflicted and confused.

“Max, are you sure?”

Max just nodded thoughtlessly.

Joyce sighed.

“Max, sweetie, you can’t just - I know you want to do what’s best, but -”

David cleared his throat.

All eyes were on him as he looked to his wife.

“Let them go, Hunnybunny …”

She blinked and gave him a shocked look.

“What?”

He sighed looked to Max, and Chloe,

“Max, Chloe …”

He then breathed in deeply and let out a soft, weary exhale.

“… there’s something about the story of my friend dying during deployment that I haven’t told you about.”

The four went deathly still for a few moments, though the storm growing and raging outside provided ample noise of wind and rain smacking against the glass.

It added a certain time pressure to this conversation.

“He didn’t just … die. He died specifically because of me. I …”

He looked down and frowned.

“I was weak. I didn’t have … c-control of the situation. I didn’t know enough about what was going on … I failed my only job as pointman.”

The other three still stayed deathly silent, trying to process the story and the implications of it.

After an agonizing delay, David looked up.

“And so he died. And I think about him … every single goddamn day.”

Joyce sighed, and her face was obviously deeply concerned.

“David, dear, you can’t blame ---”

David just cleared his throat and looked to his wife only for a second or two before back at Max and Chloe.

“--- not now, dear … I have a point in all of this … I tried to get more control, afterwards … but … maybe … maybe the point isn’t to have control. Maybe the point isn’t to try and control Rachel, or Kate …”

He sighed and closed his eyes again.

“… or Max, or Chloe …”

When he opened them, he looked to Joyce and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“If they feel like they have to do this … we should support them. Sometimes … you _know_ you just have to do something … and you’ll regret it the rest of your life if you don’t take that shot. If you hesitate.”

Joyce sighed wearily and raised a hand to rub viciously at her temples.

“I can’t believe I’m actually considering this …”

Max and Chloe were just shocked at seeing the vulnerability out of David and didn’t know how to process it very well.

Suddenly, all of their thoughts were interrupted as a huge piece of wood flew right through the sliding glass door and slammed into the kitchen table, breaking all three items in a huge mess.

Joyce let out a surprised yell, David braced her, and Max and Chloe both unconsciously hugged at the other in bracing.

“Guess the time for talk is over …”

Joyce just stared at the destruction, horrified, while Max and Chloe walked up closer to them.

Max cleared her throat, and Joyce slowly looked over to them.

“We’re going to Blackwell, Joyce ...”

Joyce’s expression became so pained, but she knew she was losing this.

She just hugged David more into her sighed and tried to hold back some tears.

“Just … be careful. I don’t want to lose you, Chloe … Or you, Max, for that matter.”

Chloe smiled.

“I ain’t planning on dying.”

Max smiled, too.

“Ditto.”

Despite everything, Joyce looked down with an amused scoff.

Chloe looked over to David.

“And David …”

David met her gaze, his expression still mostly neutral.

“… thanks.”

David nodded, then suddenly separated from Joyce to stand up straight and face Chloe.

“You kick that storm’s ass, you hear, soldier? You get to that shelter no later than thirteen hundred h-hours with everyone at Blackwell, you got it?”

Surprisingly difficult for David to say – his voice wavered, and it was clear he was strongly holding back tears.

Chloe bit her lip but broke away from Max to stand up straight.

And she saluted him.

“Sir, yes sir.”

David returned the salute, but his breathing was labored and unsteady.

He couldn’t help the tears anymore.

And for just one second or two, Chloe and David appreciated the moment, the feeling of mutual understanding.

Max and Joyce both smiled so wide at the scene.

But the sound of thunder reminded everyone of their situation, and Chloe was quick to turn around, steal Max’s hand, and start power walking to the exit.

 

David and Joyce watched them go, smiling sadly.

Joyce reburied herself in David’s side, proud of him being able to connect with Chloe like that, even if she was endlessly worried about her daughter.

But if there was one person who she could trust to break into Blackwell and argue with Wells until he saw it her way … well, that seemed almost a God-given role for Chloe to fulfill.

And with Max by her side.

Just like old times.

Not much later, David and Joyce made their way to the nearest shelter, though David decided to leave as soon as they arrived to help others get to it safely.

He too, knew what he needed to do.

Joyce was going to worry herself into a knot at this rate.

But she was never so proud of her family before in her life.

 

\---

 

The rain was heavy, and it was oppressive, and it limited visibility as Max and Chloe sprinted into Chloe’s truck.

Whence inside, Chloe put the key into the ignition and started the truck but didn’t immediately put it into gear.

Instead, she just sighed and looked sidelong at Max.

“Max …”

Max had been looking at Chloe the entire time, and Chloe couldn’t quite read her expression.

It looked vaguely concerned, but there was a twinge of fire and anger, perhaps the manifestation of Max’s motivation.

Max then frowned.

“Chloe.”

Chloe bit her lip.

“Are you sure about this, Max …? What if this goes wrong, somehow …?”

Max sighed herself.

  
“We need to save those people, Chloe … I can’t just let a bunch of innocent people die.”

Chloe frowned herself.

“And I can’t let _you_ die, Max.”

Max blinked her eyes open with a blush.

Her expression became more thoughtful and neutral.

“I guess … if it gets really bad … I can just rewind. One more time. One last time. As far back as I can go … and we’ll just go to the shelter, instead.”

Chloe sighed, and looked down.

“Your powers might not last forever, Max …”

Max smiled at this, somehow, and scooted closer until she could place one hand on Chloe’s cheek and gently guide her face into looking back at Max.

Then, Max leaned in with her eyes closed and delivered a brief but absurdly affectionate and gentle kiss.

When she pulled away, Max was all smiles.

“Maybe not … but we will, Chloe. Together forever.”

Chloe was of course happy to receive and return the kiss, and she had an amused sort of scoff at Max’s words.

She looked back behind the two of them and put the truck into reverse.

“Together forever, Max.”

Chloe was still concerned about losing Max, but she could see where she was coming from.

Maybe this town deserved a lot of shit, but the students at Blackwell didn’t.

Even people Chloe thought she’d never care for, like Victoria, didn’t deserve this.

No one deserves death.

Could Chloe live with herself if she knew they were in danger and did nothing, even if token and trivial an effort?

… could David?

Weird fucking thoughts as she finished backing up and started driving towards Blackwell.

 

The physical distance wasn’t long, but Chloe couldn’t drive very fast.

Aside from the practical matter of the rain limiting her visibility and her ancient truck’s windshield wipers not being especially effective at dealing with supernatural hurricanes, there were abandoned cars and people running all along the road.

It was like threading a needle.

And during this time, neither Max nor Chloe said anything.

They just listened to their breathing.

To the whining of the windshield wipers struggling to keep up.

The loud smacking of aggressive rain against all parts of the car.

The low roar of the wind rushing all around them.

The slushing of water whenever Chloe ran over a particularly large puddle of it.

Even Chloe’s fingers anxiously tapping along the steering well.

Even in a time like this, Chloe couldn’t help but to have too much energy to know what to do with.

Max occasionally gasped and squeezed at Chloe’s shoulder when it looked like they might hit either a pedestrian or car, but they kept driving.

Until finally, they were out of Chloe’s neighborhood, and there was basically an unobstructed line to Blackwell.

“Go go go go! Fuck!”

Chloe looked behind them for just one second, then shifted the truck down a gear.

She did a little sloppily in her adrenaline and the truck lurched around awkwardly, but soon the truck’s engine was giving everything it had.

 

They were getting closer, and closer, and closer.

Chloe was breathing so heavily, and Max was too.

Now, the sound of wind and rain was even louder against a faster-moving truck, but so were the noises the truck made as its engine revved higher and higher.  

They could barely even see where they were going the rain was so thick and heavy, which surely meant this speed was risky, but also it felt necessary.

They needed to buy every second they could.

And at least Blackwell was as far away from the storm as possible to be while still being in Arcadia Bay.

They were so close.

So very close.

 

But sometimes, risks pay off poorly.

And when they were so close to Blackwell –

There was suddenly a car right in front of Chloe’s truck _shit_ –

“Shit!”

She tried to apply brakes but –

Water and high speed –

She turned the wheel –

The truck started to skid –

Fuck –

Both Max and Chloe just held their breath, totally helplessly shocked, as the truck swerved off the road, and into the trees on either side of it.

Max tried to rewind, but found her powers had left her at the worst time –

Chloe tried her best to right the tru ---

 

 

 

Crash.

 

 

 

When Max came to, she was a bundle of agony.

But for once, this agony came from her corporeal form, and not the bullshit supernatural powers.

When she opened her eyes, she could see they had crashed into a tree.

How either of them was still alive was a total mystery to Max, since it looked like a head-on collision.

Wait.

Either of them.

Max’s immediate next thought was of Chloe, and when she looked over to her, she gasped in horrid shock.

Chloe looked … not good.

Dead?

No.

Not dead.

Please no.

She was lurched over the steering wheel and her left arm looked really awful – the truck’s door had collapsed into it and lord only knows the damage it had caused.

Shit.

Max needed to fix this, she needed to –

She raised her hand up, despite the agony present in her body from doing so, but nothing came of it.

Why did she not have her powers now, of all times?

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

She tried again, and again, and again but –

Nothing.

This was all her fault.

If she just didn’t force Chloe into trying to save these people then –

 

No.

 

That damn what if, again.

Max closed her eyes, breathed in deep, and shook her head.

Max made the right decision, at the moment, with the best information she had.

She couldn’t fix this by going backwards in time, anymore.

So she had to fix this by making the worst of a bad situation.

Max knew she was bleeding variously, but at least she was conscious and could move.

Her door hadn’t been damaged so it relented easily, and she sort of stumbled out of the truck.

When standing up, she had a better idea of her damage, though now she was exposed to the cold awful rain and the cold awful wind.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t as dark as she was expecting, but the crackling of fire was not exactly a comforting thing to hear or see.

There wasn’t any fire when they were driving and crashing … fuck.

How long had she been out cold?

One of Max’s legs hurt to even stand on, and one of her arms hurt to raise much above her waist.

Some broken glass had given her various cuts and scrapes all over her body.

But she was alive.

And her adrenaline was allowing her to not focus on the pain too much.

She had something to do.

“Chloe …”

After this quick moment of self-diagnosis to ensure she didn’t need to do anything to herself _right now_ , Max’s thoughts immediately turned to Chloe.

Shit.

She hurried back into the truck and got on her knees on the seats – the one of the only good things about Chloe’s truck was the three-abreast seating.

Shit.

She tried to grab Chloe and pull her out of the truck, but her body refused.

Her left arm was pinned between the steering wheel and the twisted door.

Shit shit shit.

Think Max, think.

Max bit her lip as she reexamined the steering wheel.

She had to move fast and decisively, since the bleeding from Chloe’s arm looked very dangerous and Max knew she had to stop it soon if she was going to have any chance of saving Chloe.

But what could she do –

The steering wheel was adjustable –

Max lowered it, and thankfully Chloe was a tall girl, so there was plenty of room to lower it.

It was just enough to get her arm free, and Max delicately took Chloe’s arm out of the wreckage and tried to not look at the gruesomeness too much.

It did not look good.

Then, just as carefully, she started to tug the still-unconscious Chloe out of the truck.

Chloe was heavy –

Max’s body ached –

But she pushed herself.

She had to do this.

She had to save Chloe.

With great difficulty, she got Chloe outside of the truck and into the wilderness.

Max carried the both of them over to a nearby tree for some shield from the rain.

Not a lot, but anything was better than being dumped on constantly by this fucking hurricane.

Max placed Chloe down into a seating position, resting against the tree.

With a groan of pain, Max got down on her knees in front of Chloe’s body and placed both of her hands on Chloe’s shoulders, then rode them up to Chloe’s cheeks to guide her face into looking at Max.

Her beanie had come off at some point, and her mouth was just gaping stupidly, and there were so many little cuts and scrapes along her face but –

Max leaned forward and kissed Chloe on the lips, again, just as gently and lovingly as ever.

When she separated,

“Chloe … please … don’t leave me.”

 

But Chloe didn’t respond.

 

Max sniffled.

Did she fail?

Did she have no way to take this back, now?

Max’s world got blurry in an awful hurry and the tears started to come quickly.

She knew she should be working on Chloe’s arm but the emotions of her fucking dying were severe and overwhelming.

No.

No.

No.

Chloe.

 

No.

 

Max bowed her head, forehead in contact with Chloe’s, and slowly slumped more and more into her.

Chloe was so cold.

Max’s tears fell onto Chloe’s body.

 

 

 

But something refused.

 

 

 

Rachel

anger

revenge

 

so close

 

but pang

sad

 

she closed her eyes.

and made one more wish.

 

as the last

of her thoughts

slipped

away

 

she was content

dreamless

happy

 

Just when Max was just about to give up hope and relegate herself to knowing she had killed Chloe, Chloe suddenly gasped in miserably, painfully, and groaned just as awfully.

Max practically screamed she was so surprised and happy – but she was so full of emotions all that came out was a warbled tearful yelp.

She sniffled.

Chloe groaned again but looked up.

Somehow, despite the awful rain around them and the pressure of the wind, Chloe smiled as she looked up at Max.

Her body was full of agony but –

Max was here.

Fuck that shit.

“Hey … hey … hey … relax. I’m here, Max …”

Max smiled herself but couldn’t look Chloe in the face with how overwhelmed she was.

Chloe tried to move one of her arms but – no. Ow.

She moved her other, instead, up to Max’s cheek to delicately stroke at it.

“Shhh … it’s okay …”

Max nodded weakly and sat down on Chloe’s lap, just melting into her chest.

Chloe hazily looked around them as Max provided her some warmth – and boy was she cold – and saw the crashed truck.

Didn’t take too long to figure out what had happened.

Still smiling, Chloe brought her hand to stroke at Max’s hair.

She spoke into that adorable mophead.

“Hey … Max. Didja pull me out of the truck?”

Max nodded, still crying.

Chloe laughed.

“You’re my hero.”

Max nodded again, and she did laugh with Chloe, but it was such a sad thing.

Chloe had enough of Max being sad.

Even though one of her arms didn’t feel like cooperating, she pushed Max down off her lap and onto her back.

Max squeaked.

Chloe maneuvered herself – painfully – until she was on top of Max.

Their faces were so close.

Max looked up to Chloe.

Chloe didn’t hesitate.

She leaned down and began to delicately make out with her girlfriend.

Suddenly,

“I love you, Chloe.”

Chloe smirked.

“You said it first …”

Max groaned, but Chloe just resumed making out with her girlfriend.

“I love you too, Max.”

Max moaned a breathless “wowzer” at some point, which ought to have ruined the mood, since, _seriously_ –

But it didn’t.

Chloe loved that side of Max.

 

The rain slowly stopped, and the wind slowly calmed down.

The fire kept crackling in the distance, but sunlight slowly returned as the clouds parted.

It was odd enough that it disrupted their making out.

With some agony, the two of them slowly got up onto their feet and looked down the road leading back to town.

Between the two of them, they could manage to stand without any great discomfort, but they relied each other heavily.

There was no storm, somehow.

The sun was back, as was the warmth from it.

Chloe wasn’t cold, anymore.

Max blinked.

“Where’d the storm go …?”

Chloe shrugged.

“… away.”

Max laughed, and it felt weird to laugh, but it was so Chloe to make Max laugh when that was the last thing on her mind.

“I guess we don’t need to save Blackwell anymore …”

Chloe groaned.

“I almost kinda wish it leveled it after we saved everyone …”

Max sighed and looked carefully at Chloe.

Still bloody, and bruised, and damaged, but …

Max knew she was a different person, now.

She kissed her cheek.

“You don’t mean that …”

Chloe closed her eyes and sighed wearily.

“Maybe I don’t, Max … maybe this place doesn’t need to be turned to fucking glass … I don’t know.”

Max smiled.

“You wouldn’t want all of your graffiti washed away, would you?”

Chloe hesitated, but then smiled, barely.

She looked over to Max.

“No. There are some things here I never want to forget.”

They shared another brief, but meaningful kiss, as they slowly started to walk back towards Chloe’s house.

“Let’s go home, Max.”

 

The path forward was long, and arduous, and full of pain.

But they had each other.

 

They made it to the shelter, soon enough.

They got the medical help they needed.

 

Chloe’s arm was going to be okay, but it was out of commission for a while, and left some nasty scars.

It put a dent in her plan to get another sleeve of tattoos, but the scars looked kind of badass too, so it was whatever.

 

Sometimes, weird, unexplainable things happen in Arcadia Bay.

Fires start and then burn unnaturally.

Winds of unimaginable force come and go.

Strange, mythical creatures.

Everyone had their own theories.

Some believed the hurricane was a secret government weapon, being tested on a tiny, inconsequential town.

Some believed that sometimes, science just couldn’t explain it all.

Some believed some yet unknown natural phenomena was the cause for it.

 

But Chloe … Chloe liked thinking that it was Rachel.

She liked thinking it was Rachel who gave Max her powers to give Chloe a second chance at life.

She liked thinking it was Rachel who orchestrated Max into her life, so that it had meaning again.

She liked thinking it was Rachel who burned Jefferson, so Chloe could walk out of this with a clean conscience.

She liked thinking it was Rachel who gave up on her revenge, so Chloe could walk out of this alive.

Even in death, Chloe liked thinking Rachel was looking out for her.

Rachel’s last gift to Chloe: purpose.

Maybe it was silly.

Maybe it was just her Christian upbringing.

Maybe it was some stupid defensive mechanism in her mind.

But she liked thinking like that.

Chloe never let go of Rachel’s bracelet.

She wore it every day.

She’d stroke it in moments of fear, doubt, or anxiety.

It’d always help to soothe her, thinking that Rachel was looking for her, someway, somehow.

Together forever.

Chloe and Max still had their traumas to work through, but it was something they felt like they could do with each other around.

Without her powers, Max slowly rediscovered herself, and worked through the weirdness of her brain and memories.

She never quite fully recovered, and Chloe still saw some glimpses of what she presumed other Maxes to be, but …

She was still the woman she fell in love with.

She was still perfect, in all of her imperfections.

Plus, she was still a huge fucking dork, and Chloe never stopped teasing her about it.

They were all going to be okay.

 

The path forward was long, and arduous, and full of pain.

But they had each other.

Together forever.

 

# Epilogue

 

Chloe clenched her fists as she looked down the Santa Monica pier.

This was going to be … difficult.

She took a few tentative steps forward and then looked back.

Max was there, smiling so wide.

Even Victoria, somehow, quite close to Max.

She wasn’t smiling, but … she was … trying? Maybe.

Steph and her adorable girlfriend were there too, grinning like idiots.

Chloe’s mother and step-father, smiling sadly.

Chloe smiled too, as she looked forward.

Heavy sigh.

She kept walking, until she was far enough away from everyone to have some privacy.

She turned to face the guard rails looking out to the sea, leaned forward on them, and rested her arms off the edge.

Her hands came together so she could gently stroke Rachel’s bracelet.

“Hey, Rachel … it’s … it’s been a while.”

Chloe was tearing up already.

Fuck this was going to be hard.

But both her mother and Steph agreed it would help.

It would give her catharsis.

So even though her voice was a little shaky and uneven, Chloe plowed on, occasionally breaking a hand away to wipe tears from her eyes.

“Like … a year now, I guess.”

Shaky exhale.

“I’ve been … okay. Thanks for asking. Um.”

She looked down and smirked just barely.

“I know you didn’t really ask, but, um … yeah.”

She looked back up to the sea.

“I guess you can see I made it to LA … we … we made it to LA.”

She meaningfully stroked the bracelet some more.

“It wasn’t easy … that storm took out a good chunk of Arcadia Bay, but … not all of it.”

She smiled, sadly.

“You know that Wells idiot got fired for running away during the storm because he left everyone behind?”

She chuckled.

“Serves him right. I know you always thought he didn’t deserve his job. Guess the school board agrees.”

She went quiet, for a while.

“I know you’re probably wondering about Nathan … I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since the storm. Not like I’m … fuckin’ sticking my nose in Prescott business, but … y’know.”

Chloe closed her eyes and exhaled gently.

“Fuck.”

She straightened her posture and looked out to the sea.

“I think about you a lot, you know that? It’s not always easy, but …”

Chloe was definitely crying, now, and the tears made it hard to see.

She closed her eyes again, welding them shut with her tears.

“… I’m happy, now. I know I --- don’t --- look it, right now, but …”

Chloe tried to steel herself, and breathed in as deeply as she could.

She opened her eyes with some difficulty.

“I love you, and miss you, but … I have Max, and my family, and a job now and …”

Chloe brought her hands down to her sides.

“I know that’s what you always wanted. For me to be happy. For me to have … purpose. Meaning.”

She looked over to her support structure, as queer and bizarre a collection of folks one could make it and smiled as she looked back to the sea.

“Even David’s kind of trying, believe it or not … it’s crazy.”

Chloe closed her eyes and quiet for a while.

“I wish you were here. I wish this world wasn’t so fucking unfair and cruel, sometimes …”

She whimpered and damn the tears.

“… but I would never trade the time we had together for _anything_ in the world … the ups, the downs … even the lies … I will always remember you, Rachel.”

This then, was finally too much for Chloe, and she broke down into pathetic tears, hiding her face in her hands.

It took a few moments for her to recompose herself enough and breathe in severely to steady her nerves.

“ _Fuck_. I just hope … you’re at peace. I’m going to … visit the world, just like you always wanted, and … you’re going to be by me every step of the way, just like you promised … only Max will be there, too.”

She smiled, and looked over to Max.

“We’re going to conquer the world, I just know it …”

She looked back to the sea and breathed in just one more time.

“Well … I better get going. Thanks for listening. It’s what you were always good at.”

Chloe hesitated, then leaned forward on the rails again, and started to stroke Rachel’s bracelet some more.

“We can make promises …”

Chloe relived so many moments with her eyes closed.

“Forget the way we live …”

The words came out with difficulty, and they were uneven, but Chloe wasn’t going to be stopped.

“I can excite your soul …”

Chloe breathed in harshly and opened her eyes.

“I can excite your soul …”

She let the words hang for some moments while she recomposed herself.

“Your favorite song, I know … cliché … but … anyway …”

She smiled.

“Goodbye, Rachel. D-don’t you … forget about me.”

Chloe couldn’t help the tears, and she was smiling while she was crying, and it was such a weird combination of emotions.

She walked back to her support structure, and hugged Max so tightly, so viciously.

She buried her face in Max’s shoulder, and cried, and cried, and cried.

And Max hugged her, so tightly, so viciously, so warmly and supportively.

Everyone else was close and although their warmth wasn’t transmitted physically, their mere presence was enough.

 

Chloe was home.

 

And as she bled herself dry of tears, she felt … good.

In a way she hadn’t in a long time.

She found release through her emotional catharsis.

And even though the path to here was difficult, and painful, and almost killed her a few times, she didn’t regret it.

There’s no place she’d rather be right now, with no other set of arms around her, and no other set of people supporting her.

 

“ _Boooo_. Come on with the waterworks.”

 

Even Victoria.

As Chloe agonizingly pulled her face out of Max’s shoulder, she smiled as she looked at Victoria.

And Victoria smiled, too.

It helped that Steph and her girlfriend giggled, and suddenly got close to Victoria.

Victoria eyed them carefully.

Steph just kept grinning.

“You could do with some relaxing, Vicky ---”

Victoria frowned.

“--- Victoria, my name is _Victoria_ \---”

But suddenly Steph and her accomplice were on Victoria, tickling her all over, and she had no choice but to laugh and giggle and ineffectually try and shove them away.

“--- get away, you goddamn fleabags ---”

 

Somehow, despite the difficult emotions Chloe was working through, she laughed at the scene.

So did Max.

Joyce and David even had a respectable chuckle.

Chloe calmed down enough from her tears to look Max in the face, and gently guided her into yet one more kiss.

Slow, gentle, methodical.

Loving.

It was a kiss, she hoped, lasted a life time.

They melted into each other with their eyes closed, and just appreciated the moment.

Forever together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! Just under 100k words in 70 days. This took a lot out of me.
> 
> But I hope you enjoyed the ride! This fic was very important to me personally. I've actually already written a season one replacement fic but I didn't set out then to take almost every plot point and try and execute it in a more satisfying manner then, and I hope that's what I've done here. Plus, all of the character arcs denied in canon ... ugh. These kids deserve better.
> 
> Please leave a comment for your thoughts on this chapter in particular or the work overall. They really are the main things that get these giant novels out of me so quickly, because my motivation is weird like that.
> 
> Thanks for reading! :)


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